India and the United States recently announced the launch of a new India-US Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) to facilitate outcome-oriented cooperation. The iCET would focus on forging closer relationship between the government, industry and academia of the two countries in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductors, 5G/6G, quantum computing, biotech and space technologies. The initiative, which will be co-led by the National Security Council Secretariat in India and the US National Security Council (NSC), plans to join six of India’s Technology Innovation Hubs to support at least 25 joint research projects in areas such as AI and data science in 2022. It marked a major development in the bilateral technology partnership which will define innovation processes, economic and security landscape of the 21st century ahead.
The announcement comes at a time when the major powers are competing to develop and deploy critical and emerging technologies (CET) to shape economic and military balance to their advantage. While concerns over technology competition and rivalry between the US and China, and China’s use of newly acquired technological and military power in support of its expansionist goal are increasing, India and the US increasingly share a common objective of a strong partnership in CET. The US supports “India’s emergence as a leading global power and vital partner” and expects that India’s rise would help balance assertive China. It wants to become India’s “partner of choice” in the field of defence and strategic technologies. India’s growing economy, largest consumer market, demographic dividend and its strive to become a global hub for emerging technologies provide enormous opportunities for building a robust bilateral partnership in CET.
At their first in-person summit in Washington DC in September 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden underscored the growing importance of “critical and emerging technologies in delivering economic growth and achieving strategic priorities”. At their second in-person meeting on the sidelines of the fourth Quad Leaders’ Summit in Tokyo on May 24, 2022, the two leaders described defence and security cooperation as a crucial pillar of the India-US bilateral agenda and expressed strong resolve to work closely to deepen and strengthen their cooperation in CET. PM Modi also invited the US industry to participate in the “Make in India” and “AatmaNirbhar Bharat” programmes, which can be of mutual benefit. Importantly, the two leaders are increasingly emphasising on the use of emerging technologies to address the 21st century challenges such as climate change, health, energy, education, cyber, defence and security.
In this endeavour, the newly created US National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, in its October 2020 report, urged the Department of Defence and Department of State to formally negotiate with India on developing partnership in CET. The NSCAI asked the US administration to create a US-India Strategic Tech Alliance with an objective to make India a focal point of its foreign policy. The Biden administration in its March 2021 Interim National Security Strategic Guidance and February 2022 Indo-Pacific Strategy of the United States also expressed desire to develop strong partnership with India in CET and focused on India’s increasingly important geo-political role in an overarching Indo-Pacific strategy.
As a result, the two countries launched the US-India Artificial Intelligence (USIAI) Initiative in March 2021 to scale up science and technology cooperation. The USIAI focuses on AI cooperation in critical areas that are priorities for both countries such as healthcare, energy, education, agriculture, smart cities and manufacturing sector. It is an initiative of India-US Science and Technology Forum which was set up during the historic visit of then US President Bill Clinton to India in March 2000. It is funded by India’s Department of Science and Technology and the US Department of State. In June 2020, the two countries also joined the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence as a founding member to support the responsible and human centric development and the use of AI.
On Semiconductor, both the Modi Government and Biden administration have renewed their efforts to address the growing demand for semiconductors amidst the chip shortage caused by the pandemic-related global supply-chain disruptions. In a big step towards realising the vision of “AtmaNirbhar Bharat” in electronics and semiconductors, the Modi Government in December 2021 announced Rs 76,000-crore (around $10 billion) production linked incentive scheme, covering up to 50 per cent of project’s costs, to set up semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem in India. The Biden administration has earmarked $52 billion for semiconductor manufacturing and research through the CHIPS for America Act to reclaim US leadership in the chip manufacturing industry as its share of global chip manufacturing has fallen from 37 per cent in 1990 to 12 per cent 2020.
Meanwhile, the Indian Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA) and the United States Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) on April 12, 2022, signed an MoU to identify potential areas of collaboration between the two countries in the semiconductor sector. Under the MoU, the two countries will assist each other on semiconductor-related matters and the MoU will help strengthen India’s semiconductor ecosystem.
Moreover, the two countries have expanded their health and science cooperation since the Covid-19 pandemic began. A robust technology partnership in the health sector would be imperative for tracking the spread of future pandemics. The two countries can work together to create a health database of their citizens which would help effectively and efficiently address the emergence of pandemics.
Notably, the United States recognised India as a major defence partner in 2016 to build a comprehensive and mutually beneficial defence relationship; elevated India’s status to Tier I of the Strategic Trade Authorization (STA) licence exception in 2018 to increase advanced technology trade with India; and, the two sides have concluded several defence agreements, i.e., the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement in 2016, Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement in 2018, a Memorandum of Intent between US Defence Innovation Unit and Indian Defence Innovation Organisation-Innovation for Defence Excellence in 2018, Industrial Security Agreement in 2019, and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement) for Geo-Spatial Cooperation in 2020.
The recent meeting between PM Modi and President Biden in Tokyo added “depth and momentum” to the India-US strategic partnership. PM Modi called the partnership “a partnership of trust” and it will continue to be a “force for good” for the world whereas President Biden expressed his commitment to make the “partnership among the closest on earth.” Nevertheless, India-US relationship has been transformed into a “Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership” based on the two countries’ shared values and growing convergence of interests on bilateral, regional and global issues. While India-US trade in goods and services increased to over $159 billion in 2021 from $19 billion in 2000, Defence trade increased to over $21 billion in 2021 from almost negligible before 2008. The US has emerged as a key supplier of defence and strategic technologies to India. The relationship also enjoys strong popular and bipartisan support in both the countries. It indeed reached a new height under the Modi Government.
A strong India-US partnership in CET therefore would not only benefit the people of the two countries, but the world at large. It would help advance economic growth, create jobs and help address the emerging challenges of the 21st century, including health, energy, climate change, cyber, defence and security. It will also help counter the growing technology dominance of China which poses threat to their economic as well as national security interests. However, the two sides need to sharpen their focus on transfer of technology and joint design, development and production of CET because no worthwhile strategic partnership can be built unless they make substantial progress in this field. This will remain a critical measure of the India-US strategic partnership and the “acid test” of US commitment to build a strategic tech-alliance in the 21st century.
(The writer is a strategic affairs analyst with main research focus on the USA, India-US relations and Indo-Pacific)
