NSA Doval, his US counterpart Sullivan review implementation of iCET

NEW DELHI: NSA Ajit Doval on Monday held extensive talks with his American counterpart Jake Sullivan, focusing on implementation of the ambitious India-US Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET), bilateral defence ties and regional security situation.

Sullivan is visiting Delhi from June 17 to 18, in the first trip to India by a senior Biden administration official after the Modi government came to power for the third term.

The US National Security Adviser (NSA) is accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising senior US government officials and industry leaders.

It is learnt that the two NSAs also deliberated on the proposed India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) against the backdrop of a delay in its rollout in view of the current situation in West Asia.

Sullivan's visit to India came three days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden had a brief conversation on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy's Apulia region.

The top Biden administration official also met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. He is also expected to call on Prime Minister Modi.

"Delighted to welcome US NSA @JakeSullivan46 in New Delhi today morning. A comprehensive discussion on a broad range of bilateral, regional and global issues," Jaishankar said on 'X'.

"Confident that India-US strategic partnership will continue to advance strongly in our new term," he said.

The iCET was launched by PM Modi and President Biden on the sidelines of the Quad summit in Tokyo on May 24, 2022.

Subsequently, Doval and Sullivan have made concerted efforts to implement the roadmap under the iCET framework with a focus on cooperation in new and emerging technologies, including semiconductors, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, defence innovation, space and advanced telecommunications.

The two sides have included new areas under iCET that included biotechnology, critical minerals and rare earths processing technologies, digital connectivity, digital public infrastructure and advanced materials.

The ongoing visit gives the NSAs an opportunity to review the progress and set new priorities and deliverables for iCET, people familiar with Doval-Sullivan talks said.

The two NSAs also discussed bilateral issues and reviewed the India-US partnership on regional and global issues of mutual interest.

They were also scheduled to chair the first annual review of iCET with an inter-departmental delegation from both countries.

On Tuesday, the two NSAs will address participants at an India-US iCET roundtable with industry CEOs, being organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Doval and Sullivan have been holding regular consultations on bilateral, regional and global issues.

The current visit continues their high-level engagement on multi-faceted agenda of the India-US global strategic partnership, the people cited above said.

The US NSA called off a visit to India for the review of iCET twice this year in view of the US administration's focus on the evolving situation in West Asia arising out of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

In the talks, the two sides are learnt to have reviewed the ongoing defence cooperation including an ambitious plan between US defence giant GE Aerospace and India's Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) to produce the advanced F414 jet engines for the Indian Air Force.

In August last year, the US Congress approved the agreement between GE Aerospace and HAL to produce the jet engines.