As a first step towards deepening public-private cooperation between vendors and operators, Bharat 6G Alliance and Next G Alliance, operated by Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions, signed a pact on Friday in New Delhi. Both India and the United States share a vision of secure and trusted telecommunications, resilient supply chains, and global digital inclusion.
After bilateral talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India and Vice President Joe Biden of the United States, the two countries released a joint statement reinforcing their commitment to constructing robust global semiconductor supply chains.
Both leaders pointed to multi-year commitments by Microchip Technology, Inc. (a subsidiary of Advanced Micro Devices) to invest around $300 million in India’s R&D scene, and by Advanced Micro Devices (a subsidiary of Microchip Technology, Inc.) to invest $400 million in India’s R&D scene over the next five years.
The leaders expressed their delight at the successful conclusion of the Congressional Notification process on August 29 and the start of commercial negotiations between GE Aerospace and Hindustan Aeronautical Ltd (HAL) to produce GE F-414 jet engines in India, and they reaffirmed their commitment to working together swiftly to advance this ground-breaking co-production and technology transfer proposal.
Vice President Biden sent his congratulations to Prime Minister Modi and the scientists and engineers of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on the successful launch of India’s first solar mission, Aditya-L1.
Leaders praised efforts to form a Working Group for commercial space collaboration within the current India-US Civil Space Joint Working Group as part of their plan to achieve new boundaries in all areas of space cooperation.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) “are continuing efforts to finalise a strategic framework for human space flight cooperation by the end of 2023,” the organisations said in a statement, “determined to deepen our partnership in outer space exploration.”
It was also said that the United States will back India’s involvement in asteroid detection and monitoring via the Minor Planet Centre, as well as strengthen collaboration on planetary defence to shield Earth and space assets from potential impacts from asteroids and NEOs.
The top brass is pleased with how US businesses Micron, LAM Research, and Applied Materials have been carrying out their June 2023 statements.
They also recognised the formation of two cooperative task teams to coordinate efforts in Open RAN and 5G/6G technology R&D, respectively.
Before full-scale rollout in India, an Open RAN manufacturer in the United States will conduct a trial with a major telecom provider there. Modi and Biden witnessed the signing of the agreement.
The two heads of state reaffirmed the centrality of technology to the development of their strategic partnership and praised ongoing efforts by the India-US Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) to create technology ecosystems and value chains that are open, accessible, secure, and resilient and are founded on mutual confidence and trust so as to reinforce shared values and democratic institutions.
The statement went on to say that the United States and India plan to conduct a midterm assessment of iCET in September to maintain momentum for the next annual iCET review, which will be co-led by the National Security Advisors of both countries in early 2024.
The leaders were pleased to have finally resolved their seventh and last WTO dispute. This follows the historic June resolution of six pending bilateral trade disputes at the World Trade Organisation.
Shortly after Vice President Joe Biden’s arrival in India for the G20 Summit, the two leaders met, and according to the joint statement, the President welcomed India’s support for a Rip and Replace pilot in the United States and expressed his appreciation for India’s continued interest in participating in the US Rip and Replace Programme.
The United States reaffirmed its commitment to bilateral cooperation with India in the quantum domain and welcomed the inclusion of India’s S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences in Kolkata as a member of the Quantum Economic Development Consortium. IIT Bombay’s participation in the Chicago Quantum Exchange as an international partner was also acknowledged, the release said.
With the most recent deal inked in August by the US Navy and Mazgaon Dock Shipbuilders, Ltd, the leaders hailed the completion of a second Master Ship Repair deal.
It was reaffirmed by both parties that they would work towards making India a key location for the upkeep of aircraft and vessels in the forward-deployed US Navy. The executives were particularly pleased to hear that the US aviation sector was committed to investing more in India’s MRO infrastructure.
To improve its intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities across all domains, the Indian Defence Ministry has issued a Letter of Request to purchase 31 General Atomics MQ-9B remotely piloted aircraft (16 Sky Guardian and 15 Sea Guardian) and their associated equipment, and President Biden has welcomed the move.
Modi and Biden reaffirmed the importance of nuclear energy as a resource to meet the needs of both countries in terms of climate, energy transition, and energy security, and they welcomed increased consultations between the relevant entities on both sides to facilitate India-US collaboration in nuclear energy, including the development of next generation small modular reactor technologies in a collaborative mode.
The United States has said once again that it would work with other countries that share this purpose to help India join the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
The leaders applauded the August launch of the India-US Renewable Energy Technologies Action Platform (RE-TAP), which will facilitate lab-to-lab collaboration, piloting, and testing of innovative technologies; collaboration on policy and planning to advance renewable energy and enabling technologies; investment, incubation, and outreach programmes; and training and skill development to accelerate the uptake and adoption of new and emerging renewable energy technologies.
A united support for a payment security system funded by both public and private money was among the developments the leaders hailed as a step in the right direction towards decarbonizing the transport industry in India. This would hasten the purchase of 10,000 Indian-made electric buses and the necessary charging infrastructure for the Indian Prime Minister’s e-Bus Sewa plan.
Both nations are dedicated to pooling their resources to strengthen the international e-mobility supply chain. The United States and India are working to speed up the rollout of greenfield renewable energy, battery storage, and developing green technology projects in India by reducing the cost of funding.
To this purpose, the US Development Finance Corporation and the Indian National Investment and Infrastructure Fund signed memoranda of intent to contribute up to $500 million in a renewable infrastructure investment fund.
In addition, Modi and Biden applauded the signing of an Implementation Arrangement between the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and India’s Department of Biotechnology to facilitate scientific and technical research partnerships in biotechnology and biomanufacturing breakthroughs. NSF and India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued a call for proposals that was met with enthusiasm. The goal of the initiative was to increase academic and industrial cooperation in areas such as semiconductor research, next-generation communication systems, cyber-security, sustainability and green technologies, and intelligent transportation systems.
The leaders “recommitted their administrations to promoting policies and adapting regulations that facilitate greater opportunities for technology sharing, co-development, and co-production between Indian and US industry, government, and academic institutions,” according to the joint statement.
A continuation of the bilateral Strategic Trade Dialogue’s interagency monitoring system was also met with enthusiasm. The leaders applauded the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish the India-US Global Challenges Institute between the Council of Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT Council) and the Association of American Universities (AAU), with an initial commitment of at least $10 million.
Collaboration in areas such as sustainable energy and agriculture, health and pandemic preparedness, semiconductor technology and manufacturing, advanced materials, telecommunications, artificial intelligence, and quantum science will be fostered by the Global Challenges Institute, which will bring together top research and higher education institutions from both countries.
The increasing number of joint research centres between the State University of New York at Buffalo and the Indian Institutes of Technology in Delhi, Kanpur, Jodhpur, and BHU in the fields of critical and emerging technologies was also applauded by Biden and Modi.
Noting a G20 commitment to halve the digital gender gap by 2030, the leaders reaffirmed the importance of efforts to close the gender digital divide in the digital economy and voiced support for the Women in the Digital Economy Initiative, which brings together governments, private sector companies, foundations, civil society, and multilateral organisations to accelerate progress towards closing the digital gender gap.
