National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is visiting the US from January 30-February 1
India's National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and his American counterpart Jake Sullivan co-chaired the inaugural meeting of the initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) at the White House in Washington DC on January 31, 2023. Let's take a look at what the initiative is all about. 1. The initiative was announced in May 2022 during a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden in Tokyo. 2. By creating technological value chains and encouraging the co-development and co-production of goods, iCET seeks to establish the two nations as trusted technology partners. 3. Through a standing mechanism, it also intends to address regulatory limitations, export limits, and mobility barriers. 4. During NSA Doval's visit, recognizing the importance of quantum technologies, both sides established a quantum coordination mechanism with participation from industry and academia, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Wednesday. 5. In the field of semiconductors, the US supported the development of a fabrication ecosystem in India, and encouraged joint ventures and partnerships for mature technology nodes and advanced packaging. 6. According to the MEA, it was agreed to constitute a task force involving India’s Semiconductor Mission, India Electronics Semiconductor Association (IESA) and the US Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) to develop a "readiness assessment” to identify near term opportunities and facilitate longer term development of semiconductor ecosystems. 7.The US side also assured support to ease export barriers to India in a few critical areas, including through efforts towards legislative changes. 8. India's Department of Science and Technology and the US National Science Foundation inked a new implementation arrangement during the iCET launch. This will increase cooperative research in CET. 9.On January 30, 2023, an iCET Roundtable involving the US and Indian industries was organized at the US Chamber of Commerce. It gave the government, businesses, and academics a chance to exchange ideas for advancing high-technology partnerships. 10. Emphasis was placed on strengthening linkages between the startup ecosystems and building innovation bridges in key sectors between the two countries, through expos, hackathons and pitching sessions. NSA Doval was joined at the iCET launch by Ambassador of India to the United States, Principal Scientific Advisor, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, Chairman ISRO, Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister, Director General DRDO, and other senior officials from National Security Council Secretariat and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. On the US side, NASA Administrator, Director National Science Foundation (NSF), Deputy National Security Advisor, amongst others, participated.