Washington: Tuesday marks the beginning of a partnership between the White House and India that President Joe Biden hopes will enable both nations to compete with China in the production of military hardware, semiconductors, and artificial intelligence.
In order to compete with China's Huawei Technologies, Washington wants to expand the number of Western mobile phone networks in the subcontinent, welcome more Indian computer chip experts to the country, and promote cooperation between American and Indian businesses developing military hardware like artillery systems.
The US's restrictions on the transfer of military technology and on immigrant worker visas, along with India's historic reliance on Moscow for military hardware, present the White House with an uphill battle on each front.
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The US-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies is being launched on Tuesday at a meeting at the White House between Jake Sullivan, Biden's national security adviser, and Ajit Doval, his Indian counterpart.
According to Sullivan, "the bigger challenge posed by China—its economic practises, 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."
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By taking part in military drills with Russia and increasing its purchases of the nation's crude oil—a crucial source of funding for Russia's conflict in Ukraine—New Delhi has irritated Washington. Washington, however, has refrained from comment, advising the nation on Russia while tolerating India's more hawkish policies.
Sullivan and Doval took part in a Chamber of Commerce event on Monday alongside executives from Applied Materials Inc., Lockheed Martin Corp., and Adani Enterprises.
India has chosen not to participate in the IPEF trade pillar negotiations despite being a part of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), the Biden administration's premier Asian engagement initiative. A collaborative effort on high-performance quantum computing and space is also included in the initiative.
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Meanwhile, according to the White House, which claims a review is in progress, General Electric Co. is asking the US government for permission to produce jet engines with India that would power Indian-made and -operated aircraft.