Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed US President Joseph R Biden, Jr., to India, reaffirming the close and enduring partnership between the two countries.

The leaders expressed their appreciation for the substantial progress underway to implement the ground breaking achievements of Prime Minister Modi’s historic June 2023 visit to Washington.

The leaders called on their governments to continue the work of transforming the India-US Strategic Partnership across all dimensions of our multifaceted global agenda, based on trust and mutual understanding.

Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET)

For instance, Prime Minister Modi and President Biden reaffirmed technology’s defining role in deepening our strategic partnership and lauded ongoing efforts through the India-US Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) to build open, accessible, secure, and resilient technology ecosystems and value chains, based on mutual confidence and trust, which reinforce our shared values and democratic institutions.

The US and India intend to undertake a mid-term review of iCET this month to continue to drive momentum toward the next annual iCET review, co-led by the National Security Advisors of both countries, in early 2024, the government said in a statement.

Semiconductor supply chains

The leaders reiterated their support for building resilient global semiconductor supply chains, noting in this respect a multi-year initiative of Microchip Technology, Inc., to invest around $300 million in expanding its research and development presence in India and Advanced Micro Device’s announcement to invest $400 million in India over the next five years to expand research, development, and engineering operations in India, it said.

The leaders expressed satisfaction at the ongoing implementation of announcements made in June this year by US companies, Micron, LAM Research, and Applied Materials.

Secure telecom

Sharing a vision of secure and trusted telecommunications, resilient supply chains, and global digital inclusion, Prime Minister Modi and President Biden welcomed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Bharat 6G Alliance and Next G Alliance, operated by Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions, as a first step towards deepening public-private cooperation between vendors and operators.

They further acknowledged the setting-up of two Joint Task Forces focused on collaboration in the field of Open RAN and research and development in 5G/6G technologies.

A 5G Open RAN pilot in a leading Indian telecom operator will be undertaken by a US Open RAN manufacturer before field deployment, it said.

Collaboration in biotechnology

The leaders also hailed the signing of an Implementation Arrangement between the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and India’s Department of Biotechnology to enable scientific and technological research collaborations in biotechnology and biomanufacturing innovations.

They welcomed the call for proposals released by NSF and India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to foster academic and industrial collaboration in semiconductor research, next generation communication systems, cyber-security, sustainability and green technologies, and intelligent transportation systems.

Reaffirming their commitment to building resilient technology value chains and linking defence industrial ecosystems, the leaders recommitted their administrations to promoting policies and adapting regulations that facilitate greater technology sharing, co-development, and co-production opportunities between Indian and US industry, government and academic institutions.

They also welcomed continued engagement through an inter-agency monitoring mechanism under the auspices of the bilateral Strategic Trade Dialogue, launched in June, the statement added.

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