The importance of iCET in Indo-US relations and why NSA Doval is attending it

The iCET meeting of India and the US has been in the making for the past 8 months. The groundwork was laid down when Deputy NSA, Vikram Misra held talks in Washington with top officials of the Biden administration

New Delhi, Jan 31: The next-big milestone in India-US relations is set to begin as National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval will hold talks with the US leadership including his counterpart, Jake Sullivan.

This is the first high-level dialogue on Initiative for Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET).

NSA Ajit Doval has arrived in Washington and the talks will be held later during the day at the White House.

The iCET was first spoken about in a joint statement following a meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden in May 2022 at Tokyo.

The delegation with NSA Doval is a huge one and comprises five secretary level officials and corporate leadership from Indian companies which are involved in cutting-edge research in India.

The secretary level-officials include Principal Scientific Advisor to the Prime Minister, Ajay Kumar Sood, chairman of ISRO, S Somnath. Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister, G Satheesh Reddy, Department of Telecom Secretary, K Rajaram and Director General of Defence Research and Development Organisation, Samir V Kamat.

Sources tell OneIndia that the iCET would help both countries leverage advantage in design and assembly, test and packaging in the semiconductor sector. This would be an important aspect as securing the supply and minerals in the manufacturing of semiconductors will be critical to manage the supply chain dependance on China, which has so far dominated the markets.

The source further added that the iCET would be about India and the US talking about a solid commercial, scientific and defence relationship. The meet would also recognise the strategic challenges and would also send a signal to the adversary, private sector, citizens and the internal system.

Overall it would be the next big thing in India-US relations and this meeting will change the collective future of both nations.

The iCET has been in the making over the last eight months. India's Deputy National Security Advisor, Vikram Misra was in Washington to meet top officials from the Biden administration in a bid to set the stage for this meet.

About iCET:

The iCET is a multidisciplinary research programme which focuses on development and application of cutting edge technology which have the potential to shape the future. This programme also aims at bringing researchers and experts together to work on projects which address critical and emerging technologies going into the future.

The iCET covers areas which include artificial intelligence, biotechnology, robotics, quantum computing among others.

This programme is usually funded by governments, private organisations or universities. It involves the participation of research instates, academia and industry.