US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is arriving here on Sunday on a two-day visit to hold talks with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on a range of issues across the breadth of the U.S.-India partnership – from space, defense, and strategic technology cooperation to shared security priorities in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.
During his visit, Mr. Sullivan will also meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and other Indian leaders. He will also visit the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, where he will meet with young Indian entrepreneurs and give a speech outlining the significant steps India and the US have taken together to strengthen their innovation alliance under the initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET), the White House said.
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The visit takes place just before President Joe Biden leaves office on January 20, ahead of the inauguration of Mr Donald Trump as the 47th US President. Mr Jaishankar had recently visited Washington and had a meeting with Mr Sullivan too.
“This will be Mr. Sullivan’s final trip to the Indo-Pacific region as National Security Advisor. He’s very excited and looking forward to these conversations at this critical time,” said White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby.
Both sides have acknowledged that the iCET, unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden in May 2022, would play a defining role in deepening the strategic partnership between the two countries.
India is confident that there will be continuing in the relationship with the US even after Mr Trump takes over as the new president. New Delhi believes a strong India-US relationship enjoys bipartisan support in Washington.
Mr Sullivan has already mentioned three key buckets for technology partnerships — innovation, production and deployment — stressing the need for government support for the private sector.
“There exists bipartisan support for Indian industry in the US and building the ecosystem and supply chain manufacturing is the key to production,” he told the industry leaders, last year.
“The core of iCET is about the idea of India and US being able to support each other and to encourage greater collaboration in the technology ecosystem, jointly innovate and find solutions to challenges,” he said.
