WHEN he addressed the joint session of the US Congress seven years ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that India has ended its “historic hesitations” in dealing with the United States. During his June 20-24 State visit, Joe Biden’s US went out of the way to woo PM Modi’s ‘New India’, in both symbolism and substance.
This was evident from the ceremonial reception he was given at the White House and the way he was feted around by the Bidens as well as the US Congress, with both Democrats and Republicans reaching out to the Indian leader after his second speech to the US Congress.
Beyond the pomp and circumstance, the substantive aspects of the visit showed the US’ keenness to ensure that deliverables tied to the visit reflected not just American but Indian concerns as well.
As PM Modi said on the last leg of the visit, the two countries are “not just forming policies, but shaping lives, dreams and destinies”.
Job-creation, innovation: Investments from the US will give a boost to job-creation and innovation in India. The multiple tech-linked accords – the jet engine technology, semi-conductor chain, big investments from Apple and Google – would help India break new grounds.
From a purely buyer-seller relationship, the two countries have taken their ties to heights where they have agreed to co-produce critical technologies.
The aerospace unit of General Electric, for instance, has entered into an agreement with India’s state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics to jointly make engines in India to power fighter jets for the Indian Air Force. The trailblazing initiative to manufacture F-14 engines in India will enable greater transfer of United States’ jet-engine technology than ever before.
Micron investment: Though PM Modi’s visit was dominated by talks on defence and strategic partnership, there were other significant achievements as well. Leading US technology firm Micron Technology promised to invest up to $825 million to build a semiconductor assembly and test facility in Gujarat with the support of the Indian Government.
India and the US have launched two joint taskforces on advanced telecommunications, focused on Open RAN and research and development in 5G/6G technologies. The public-private cooperation between vendors and operators will be led by India’s Bharat 6G Alliance and the Next G Alliance of the US.
On nuclear energy, the atomic energy departments of the two countries will facilitate opportunities for Westinghouse Electric Company to develop a technocommercial offer for Kovvada atomic power project in Andhra Pradesh.
India and the US have also agreed to develop a first-of-its-kind, multibilliondollar investment platform aimed at providing catalytic capital and de-risking support for renewable energy projects.
In addition, the USAID and the Indian Railways announced an MoU to combat climate change and achieve Railways’ target of net-zero carbon emissions.. Besides, after their meetings with PM Modi, chief executives of many top American companies announced plans to make major investments in India.
