The US is expanding cooperation with India to address global challenges, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said

Giving further impetus to the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership was top of the agenda during National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval's US visit from January 30-February 1.

NSA Doval, who was accompanied by a delegation of senior officials, held a series of high-level meetings with top functionaries of the Biden administration. These included Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, Acting Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, key Senators and industry leaders.

The discussions covered a wide range of issues, with both sides agreeing to step up cooperation in defence and space as well as critical and emerging technology.

On Wednesday, the last day of his visit, he met Secretary Blinken and discussions centred around stronger bilateral strategic cooperation. The meeting with the US Secretary of State, who had just returned from a visit to West Asia including Israel and Egypt, also saw an exchange of views on international and regional issues of mutual interest.

"NSA Ajit Doval met Secretary of State Antony Blinken @SecBlinken today. Both sides exchanged views on a wide range of global and regional issues of mutual interest and how to further strengthen the #India- U.S. Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, the Indian Embassy in the US tweeted.

Secretary of State Blinken described it as a "good meeting". "The United States is expanding cooperation with India to address global challenges. I had a good meeting with Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval today to discuss deepening our strategic partnership," he tweeted.

A day earlier, Doval held wide-ranging discussions with Jake Sullivan, his American counterpart. One of the key takeaways from this meeting was a commitment from the US side about expeditious review of the license application submitted by M/s General Electric (GE) to produce jet engines in India for the indigenously manufactured Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).

It was also agreed that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) would work with US space Agency NASA on human space flight opportunities, NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) project, and STEM talent exchanges.

At the same time, India and the US strengthened their strategic alliance during this by launching the iCET project, which stands for 'initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies'.

Doval and Sullivan co-chaired the first iCET meeting at the White House on Tuesday, putting into practice the announcement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden during their meeting in Tokyo in May 2022. iCET aims to position the two countries as trusted technology partners by building technology value chains and support the co-development and co-production of items.

During the discussion, the US side also pledged assistance for measures to lower export restrictions to India in a few crucial areas, including through legislative means.

A reception hosted by Indian Ambassador to the US Taranjit Sandhu also provided NSA Doval the opportunity to interact with Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, NSA Jake Sullivan, Acting Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, several high officials from the US Administration, CEOs of advanced technology companies and funds, and heads of leading US universities, in addition to US NSA Sullivan.

According to India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the discussions during this visit form the basis for intensifying India-US cooperation in cutting-edge sectors and are truly reflective of the maturity of the India-US comprehensive, global strategic partnership.