Looking Forward To Meet Prez Biden, PM Modi Tells US NSA

In an important development ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's America tour later this month, US National Security Advisor (NSA) Jake Sullivan called on PM Modi and addressed a roundtable meeting along with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Sullivan is said have briefed the Prime Minister on the progress in various sectors of bilateral cooperation. He conveyed that US President Biden is looking forward to welcoming Prime Minister Modi on the State visit, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

In reply, PM Modi told Sullivan that he too is looking forward to a productive US visit and an engaging conversation with President Joe Biden on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest. He expressed satisfaction at the growing and deepening comprehensive global strategic partnership between India and the US.

"Glad to receive US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Reviewed progress under India-US Initiative on Critical & Emerging Technologies (iCET) and other issues of bilateral cooperation. Look forward to meeting President Joe Biden during my upcoming State Visit to the US," PM Modi tweeted later.

Sullivan, who landed in New Delhi on Tuesday on a two-day visit, and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval took part in the second 'Track-1.5 dialogue' on Advancing India-US Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET), later in the day. They unveiled a roadmap for Indo-US collaboration in seven specific high-technology areas, including semiconductors, next-generation telecommunication, artificial intelligence and defence.

In his address, Doval said that to kickstart the Indo-US quantum coordination mechanism, both countries have signed an MoU on semiconductors. He said the initiative on public-private partnership (PPP) on telecom, engaging stakeholders from the government and industry. A detailed dialogue on biotechnology is being held and important exchanges on cooperation in artificial intelligence (AI) have taken place, he added.

Doval further said iCET is a collaborative initiative between industry, academia, research bodies and think-tanks, all making a common endeavor to build stronger partnerships. India and US have established a strategic trade dialogue which will serve as a platform to address regulatory barriers and issues related to export control, he informed.

Speaking on the occasion, Sullivan said US and India will lead in clean energy transformation, revolution on AI, bio-tech and quantum. He said that as PM Modi visits Washington next week, a number of the deliverables at that visit are not just bullet points on a page.

The deliverables are fundamentally designed to remove obstacles in defence and high-tech trades and in taking away obstacles that have stood in the way of better collaboration among our scientists and researchers. The vision is important but ultimately it is about realising it through practical cooperation between the private sectors, scientists, research academies and governments, Sullivan added.

The two NSAs also interacted with the industry and academia on upcoming technologies and partnerships for their fast adoption.