"Future of iCET is very bright," says NSA Ajit Doval on India-US initiative on critical technologies in Delhi

New Delhi [India], June 13 : Calling the future of the India-US Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) "very bright," National Security Advisor Ajit Doval said that it is going to emerge as one of the critical pillars in the India-US bilateral strategic partnership.

Addressing the Roundtable on Advancing India-US iCET organized by CII in New Delhi today, Doval said that significant progress has been made in various areas and the two nations have started moving in the right direction.

"We have been able to kickstart the Indo-US Quantum Coordination Mechanism, signed an MoU on semi-conductors, the public-private dialogue on telecom engaging stakeholders from the government, Industry and academia to further open collaboration in Open RAN, 5G and 6G has been kickstarted, detailed dialogue on biotech is being held, important exchanges on AI have taken place, and there is positive momentum under the defence and space pillars," he said.

Adding further, Doval said that he is optimistic that more specific and tangible results will be achieved in the near future.

NSA Doval also said that the two nations have established a strategic trade dialogue, noting that it will serve as a platform to address regulatory barriers, and issues relating to exports control.

"iCET is not a government-to-government arrangement alone, but a collaborative initiative of industry, academia, research bodies and think tanks, all making a common endeavour to see India and the US in a higher orbit, an orbital jump to our strategic relations, where we are able to build technology capabilities and exploit opportunities," he noted.

The NSA said that the interest shown by industry, businesses, scientists, research scholars, and institutions in iCET is encouraging and confidence-building.

Earlier today, Jake Sullivan also addressed the iCET meet in the national capital and highlighted how iCET is more than just tech.

He said, "it is about people-to-people relationships, building the skills of our populations, building trust and confidence between societies and governments, and deepening our defence cooperation, in ways that will help us both strategically and economically."

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is on an official visit to New Delhi from June 13-14, at the invitation of Ajit Doval. The two NSAs have frequently had in-depth meetings on a wide range of bilateral, regional, and international issues.

National Security Advisor of the US Jake Sullivan who is on a two-day India visit met his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval on Tuesday and discussed regional and global issues of mutual interest.

Sullivan is accompanied by a delegation of senior US government officials and leaders of US industry during his visit. His visit to the national capital comes in the run-up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming state visit to the US.

The two national security advisers had restricted discussions earlier today to discuss topics of common interest. Later, they both attended the second Track 1.5 discourse on it, which the Confederation of Indian Industry hosted.

Addressing the gathering in Delhi, the US NSA said that US President Joe Biden is thrilled to see what is happening here and to watch how things unfold.

"As we look ahead to the state visit that PM Modi will be embarking upon in Washington next week, a number of the deliverables at that visit are not just bullet points on a page, they are fundamentally designed to remove obstacles in defence and high-tech trades and in taking away obstacles that have stood in the way of better collaboration among our scientists and researchers," he said.

The first edition of this dialogue was organised by the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC on January 30 this year, according to the release of the Ministry of External Affairs.