White House is launching a partnership with India that President Joe Biden hopes will help the countries compete against China on military equipment, semiconductors and artificial intelligence.
Washington wants to deploy more Western mobile phone networks in the subcontinent to counter China’s Huawei Technologies, to welcome more Indian computer chip specialists to the US and to encourage companies from both countries to collaborate on military equipment like artillery systems.
The White House faces an uphill battle on each front, including US restrictions on military technology transfer and visas for immigrant workers with India’s longstanding dependence on Moscow for military hardware.
Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and his Indian counterpart, Ajit Doval, are meeting with senior officials from both countries at the White House to launch the US-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies.
Jake Sullivan Said :
“The larger challenge posed by China — its economic practices, its aggressive military moves, its efforts to dominate the industries of the future and to control the supply chains of the future have had a profound impact on the thinking in Delhi,”.
New Delhi has frustrate Washington by participating in military exercises with Russia and increasing purchases of the country’s crude oil, a key source of funding for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
But Washington has held its tongue, nudging the country on Russia while condoning India’s more hawkish stance on China.
Jake Sullivan and Ajit Doval participate in a Chamber of Commerce event with corporate leaders from Lockheed Martin, Adani Enterprises, and Applied Materials.
India is part of the Joe Biden administration’s signature Asian engagement project Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), it has opt against joining the IPEF trade pillar negotiations.
The initiative also includes a joint effort on space and high-performance quantum computing.
General Electric is asking the US government for permission to produce jet engines with India that would power aircraft operate and produce by India, as per the White House, which says a review is underway.
