Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his American counterpart Jake Sullivan formally launched the US-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies in Washington, DC. , Photo Credit: ANI
IEarlier this month, the US and India inaugurate their Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (ice tea). The promise of this initiative, if fulfilled, could have a transformative impact on India-US relations.
Since the 1960s, India has made several attempts to jump on the American technology bandwagon. But they have all failed, mainly because of the mismatch between the two countries on the objectives for which they collaborated. ICET is probably in better shape. Unlike earlier iterations, this comes at a time when India too has developed technological and managerial capabilities and is emerging as a major economic power. Under the ICET, the two sides have identified six focus areas of co-development and co-production: strengthening the innovation ecosystem, defense innovation and technology cooperation, resilient semiconductor supply chains, space, STEM talent and next-generation telecommunications .
On the eve of the dialogue, National Security Advisor Ajit DovaI said that there was a great need to convert intentions and ideas into deliverables. This is where the slippage usually occurs.
american aid
Since the 1950s, the US has played an important role in India’s development efforts and exploration of technological potential. A major driver of this process was the Cold War which persuaded the US to provide India with extensive aid in many areas. While the Soviet Union emerged as a major player in sectors such as steel, heavy power, petroleum, and mining, the US focused on engineering and management education, science and technology (S&T), and the modernization of agriculture.
One of the more consequential areas of cooperation was in nuclear energy where the US helped build India’s first reactors for research and power. An entire generation of Indian nuclear scientists was trained in America, including some who later helped create nuclear weapons. But this cooperation came to an abrupt end after India’s first nuclear test in 1974. The same can be said for India’s space programme, though in a slightly different way.
Heavy aid provided by the US to modernize Indian education, especially engineering and management, should have led to a growth in the industrial sector, but the Indian economy stalled in the 1960s and India ended up with a system where IIT and IIM graduates benefited. American economy. One area in which India made lasting and significant gains was in agriculture where American S&T helped spur the Green Revolution and end an era of food shortages.
The Bangladesh War of 1971 and the 1974 nuclear tests led to three decades of dispensation and a ruthless US technology denial regime, the main target of which was India, all in the name of non-proliferation.
After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan brought some respite, the Gandhi–Reagan Science and Technology Initiative led to the 1984 Indo-US Memorandum of Understanding on Sensitive Technologies, Goods and Information. This was the result of a new American desire to promote the Indian S&T and arms industry. In 1987, the US agreed to assist India’s Light Combat Aircraft (Tejas) program and allowed the sale of front line Ge 404 engines to India. However, extensive cooperation stalled as the US was unwilling to give up its non-proliferation agenda.
After the Soviet collapse, the US pushed for an unconditional extension of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and began pressuring countries to sign a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty. At this stage, India realized that it had no option but to come out as a declared nuclear weapons power.
The 1998 nuclear tests were followed by another round of sanctions, but by this time the US had begun to appreciate the challenge it faced from China. It now decided to play the India card, but to do so needed to spit out the nuclear proliferation pill stuck in our throats. This is what was done with the Indo-US nuclear deal of 2008, which forms the basis of our current engagement with the US.
But despite India’s growing proximity to the US since then, there has been no significant change in technology development and actual delivery through co-production. The much-touted Defense Technology and Trade Initiative has little to show for it.
India has consistently moved forward as America’s friend and has bought American weapons and systems worth billions of dollars. It is now considered a major defense partner, though not a major non-NATO ally, a more useful designation that Pakistan still retains. The course hasn’t been problem-free – witness the pressure India faced under CAATSA and because of it Its oil trade with Russia.
ambitious target
ICET has set many ambitious goals that mean a lot to India. Some of them are aspirational, others are political. Some are over the top, such as the belief that the US will help India develop advanced jet engines. As of now, the only thing on the table is the possible license manufacturing of the GE-404/414 engines for LCA. This is not new. But state-of-the-art jet engines are America’s crown jewel, which the country will not give up. A similar approach will be adopted in other areas, where the US jealously guards its technological prowess, knowing that it is a key component of its global power position.
After presenting the Union Budget, the Finance Minister said in an interview, ‘This is a golden opportunity for India. We really shouldn’t have left the bus this time. This comment rings true about the technology and industrialization bus that ICET could be.