India-US: The high tech boost

Source– The post is based on the article “India-US: The high tech boost” published in The Indian Express on 2nd February 2023.

Syllabus: GS2- Bilateral Groupings and Agreements involving India and affecting India’s interests.

Relevance– India and US bilateral relations

News– The article explains the outcome of the recent inaugural dialogue of iCET between the NSAs of US and India. It also explains iCET and the history of technological cooperation between India and the US.

What were the outcomes of the meeting between India’s National Security Advisor and his American counterpart at the inaugural dialogue of iCET in Washington this week?

There was an announcement of a new road map for deeper military and techno-economic cooperation between the two countries.

Both announced the making of a fighter jet engine in India. GE Aerospace has applied for an export licence for jet engine production and phased transfer of technology to Indian entities.

What are some facts about the bilateral Initiative on Critical and Emerging TechnologiesTechnologies (iCET) ?

It could lend a new strategic depth and breadth to the expanding engagement between India and the United States.

The idea was first mooted in the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden on the margins of the Tokyo summit of the Quad last year.

The iCET involves collaboration in a range of areas including quantum computing, semiconductors, 5G and 6G wireless infrastructure, and civilian space projects such as lunar exploration.

The iCET process will be monitored and driven from the PMO in Delhi and the White House in Washington. It will hopefully bring greater coherence to this round of India-US technological engagement.

What is the history of technological cooperation between India and the US?

High technology cooperation has long been a major focus of US-India relations.

Early advances in India’s nuclear and space programmes in the 1950s and 1960s involved significant inputs from the US.

But the US nuclear sanctions from the 1970s led to decline in bilateral high-tech cooperation. The historic civil nuclear initiative of 2005 opened the door for renewed technological cooperation.