Washington: National Security Advisor Ajit Doval will hold crucial talks with the top US leadership including his counterpart Jake Sullivan on the first high-level dialogue on Initiative for Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET).
Officials, academicians and industry experts believe the talks could be the “next big milestone” in the India-US relationship after the India-US nuclear deal. Doval will arrive here on Monday for the talks.
Officials on both sides remained tightlipped on the details of the ambitious iCET meeting, the deliverables of which are expected to be announced after the conclusion of the meetings of the two sides at the White House on January 31.
Both sides expect that the dialogue would lay the foundation for developing a trusted partner ecosystem between the corporate sectors, so that the two countries with public-partner partnership, driven by a culture of startups, can successfully address the challenges posed by authoritarian regimes in the domain of technology and scientific research.
The iCET was first mentioned in a joint statement after the meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with US President Joe Biden in Tokyo in May 2022.
Doval is arriving the US with an unusually large delegation that comprises five secretary-level officials and corporate leadership from Indian companies that are doing some cutting edge research in India.
The five secretary-level officials include ISRO Chairman S Somnath, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Prime Minister, Ajay Kumar Sood; Scientific Advisor to the Raksha Mantri, G Satheesh Reddy; Department of Telecom Secretary K Rajaram and Director General of Defense Research and Development Organisation Samir V Kamat.
Under iCET, the two countries have identified six areas of cooperation which would include co-development and co-production, that would gradually be expanded to QUAD, then to NATO, followed by Europe and the rest of the world.
The objective is to provide cutting edge technologies to the rest of the world which are affordable.
The six areas that have been identified for cooperation as part of iCET are scientific research and development; quantum and artificial intelligence, defense innovation, space, advanced telecom which would include things like 6G and semiconductors.
Officials and experts on both sides asserted that this is not a normal dialogue, but a “strategic one” which would take the relationship to an altogether new level.
The iCET dialogue, in a way, is also a recognition by the US that India has core strengths in the field of science and technology, given the path breaking research that its scientists have done, including on space science, without much help from the international community.
PTI

Press Trust of India