The two sides discussed opportunities for greater cooperation, the US said. (agent)
Washington:
The White House has said that US President Joe Biden believes that the India-US Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies or ICET is important for both the countries to create a democratic technology ecosystem.
The iCET, which is being billed as the “Next Big Thing” in India-US relations, was launched by US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and India’s Ajit K Doval at the White House here on Tuesday.
“The President believes this initiative is critical for the United States and India to build a democratic technology ecosystem and to strengthen our democratic values and our democratic institutions. So, we see this as an incredibly important initiative and partnership with India.
The iCET was being launched at the direction of Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who agreed to enhance and expand strategic technology partnership and defense industrial cooperation between the governments, businesses and academic institutions of the two countries after their Tokyo meeting in May 2022. was announced.
“President and Prime Minister Modi announced this initiative when they met in a meeting in May of last year, 2022 – and that was in Tokyo – and asked their national security advisors to lead our partnership in critical emerging technologies. instructed,” Jean-Pierre said in response to a question on Wednesday.
“We made our announcements yesterday in defensive innovation, the semiconductor space, 5G and STEM talent. We look forward to building on this momentum in the months and years ahead. So again, an important partnership, an initiative between two friends who are two countries,” he said.
Asked whether the initiative is targeted towards China, the press secretary said it is not about any one country.
“You cannot ignore the geopolitical context in which we live, as you asked me about China, but this initiative is not about any country, only about one country. It is actually something bigger than that, a relationship between two friends, two countries that have been partners for some time,” she said.
“As the world’s two leading economies and democracies, it is in our best interest to strengthen this partnership and deliver for our people, and when you think about economies and people around the world. So we think this is an important step forward and we will continue to build on this innovation initiative,” said Jean-Pierre.
In a separate press conference, State Department Deputy Press Secretary Vedant Patel told reporters that the US-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies will advance and expand strategic technology partnership and defense industrial cooperation.
“Both sides discussed opportunities for greater collaboration in critical and emerging technologies, co-development and co-production, and ways to deepen connectivity in our innovation ecosystems,” he said.
“We also expanded our defense cooperation with joint development and production, and will focus on projects related to jet engines, combat-related technologies and other systems. I’ll let my colleagues in the White House and the National Security Council speak more about this meeting,” Patel said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
featured video of the day
Budget 2023: How much will you save under the new tax regime