The US is launching a series of ambitious technology, space and defence initiatives with India, in an effort designed to counter China in the Indo-Pacific and wean New Delhi off its reliance on Russia for weapons.
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval met in Washington on Tuesday as the two countries unveiled co-operation in a number of areas, including quantum computing, artificial intelligence, 5G wireless networks and semiconductors. They also created a mechanism to facilitate joint weapons production.
The Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies marks the latest move by US President Joe Biden to work more closely with allies and partners to counter China. It follows an agreement between Biden and India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, to create the initiative when they met in Tokyo in May 2022.
“It is really a strategic bet by the two leaders . . . that creating a deeper ecosystem between the US and India will serve the strategic, economic and technological interests of both countries,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan said the initiative was part of Biden’s strategy to enhance ties with allies and partners across the Indo-Pacific, citing the Aukus submarine pact with Australia and the UK, and the resurrection of the “Quad” — a security grouping of the US, Japan, Australia and India.
“This is another big foundational piece of an overall strategy to put the entire democratic world in the Indo-Pacific in a position of strength.”
One US official said the technology initiative, coupled with other actions, meant that 2023 would “probably be the most consequential year in US-India diplomacy”, adding that India was “the key” to US ambitions in the region.
He said that India was aligning more with the US because of its tense relations with China, particularly after deadly border clashes in the Galwan Valley in 2020. “The Indians don’t advertise this . . . but it had a kind of 9/11, Pearl Harbor-style impact on the strategic thinking of their elites.”
Sullivan said the initiative did not suggest a fundamental shift in India’s geopolitical orientation, but stressed that it underscored the impact that negative Chinese behaviour was having on countries around the world.
“Its economic practices, its aggressive military moves, its efforts to dominate the industries of the future and to control the supply chains of the future, have had a profound impact on the thinking in Delhi,” he said.
Tanvi Madan, an India expert at the Brookings Institution, said the initiative was a “significant investment” in the relationship that underscored a growing strategic realignment. But she pointed out that while India had a traditional policy of “non-alignment” with most countries, that applied less to China.
India has been trying to boost its homegrown technology capacity over concerns about China’s lead in crucial sectors. It is trying to build a chip industry and promote emerging sectors where it trails Beijing, including electric vehicles and telecoms. Indian officials want Apple, Samsung and other foreign multinationals to invest more in the country as they diversify supply chains away from China.
The India goals dovetail with the US’s desire to boost co-operation to better compete with China and to enable like-minded democracies to set critical technology standards.
Sullivan said the White House would work with the US Congress to make it easier to attract science and technology talent from India, which is important as the US embarks on an effort to revitalise its domestic chip industry.
Another senior official said the US and India would ask semiconductor associations in both countries to work together to identify areas for joint investment. He said the administration would work with Congress to eliminate regulatory hurdles that, for example, prevent the export of high-performance computing technology to India.
“The president and the White House have a view that many of the legacy [technology transfer] restrictions relative to India made sense in their time but make less sense in the year 2023,” Sullivan said.
The efforts to jointly develop weapons will initially focus on jet engines, artillery systems and armoured infantry vehicles. Sullivan said General Electric had submitted a proposal to the US government to jointly build engines.
The meeting between the national security advisers came as a large group of US and Indian chief executives and senior leaders met to discuss ways to enhance joint public-private partnerships. The companies included Micron, Lockheed Martin and Applied Materials from the US, as well as Reliance Industries, Adani Defence & Aerospace and ArcelorMittal from India.
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