The two sides discussed opportunities for greater cooperation, the US said. (Representation)
Washington:
US President Joe Biden believes that the India-US initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies, or iCET, is the key for both countries to create a democratic ecosystem in technology, the White House said.
iCET, dubbed the “Next Big Thing” in India-US relations, was launched by national security advisers Jake Sullivan from the US and Ajit K Doval from India at the White House here on Tuesday.
“The President believes that this initiative is key for the US and India to create a democratic technology ecosystem and strengthen our democratic values and our democratic institutions. So, we see this as a important initiative and a partnership that we have with India,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at her daily news conference.
iCET was launched at the direction of Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi who after their meeting in Tokyo in May 2022 announced to increase and expand strategic technology partnerships and defense industrial cooperation between governments, businesses and academic institutions in both countries.
“The President and Prime Minister Modi announced this initiative when they met in a meeting in May last year, 2022 – and that was in Tokyo – and directed their national security advisers to lead our partnership in critical emerging technologies,” Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday, in response to a question.
“We made our announcements yesterday on defensive innovation, the semiconductor space, 5G and STEM talent. We look forward to building on this momentum in the coming months and years. So again, an important partnership, a initiative between two friendly two countries,” he said.
In response to a question whether this initiative is aimed at China, the press secretary said that it is not about one country.
“You cannot ignore the geopolitical context in which we live, as you asked me about China, but this initiative is not about any country, only one country. It is actually about something bigger moreover, a relationship between two friends, two countries that have been partners for a long time,” he said.
“As two of the world’s leading economies and democracies, it is in our interest to strengthen this partnership and provide for our people, and when you think about economies and people across the world. That’s why we think this is an important step forward and we will continue to grow this innovation initiative,” said Jean-Pierre.
In a separate news conference, State Department Deputy Press Secretary Vedant Patel told reporters that the US-India initiative on critical and emerging technologies will enhance and expand the strategic technology partnership. and defense industry cooperation.
“Both sides discussed opportunities for greater cooperation in critical and emerging technologies, co-development and co-production, and ways to deepen connectivity in our innovation ecosystems,” he said.
“We are also expanding our defense cooperation in joint development and production, and this will focus on projects related to jet engines, munitions-related technology, and other systems. I will allow our with the White House and the National Security Council to say more about this meeting,” Patel said.
(Other than the headline, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and was published from a syndicated feed.)
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