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‘We see India as a…’: What US secy Gina Raimondo said on bilateral partnership

ByRajeev Jayaswal, New Delhi
Mar 11, 2023 05:50 AM IST

The US is also “keen to take India’s telecom stack for 5G”, indicating an interest in the country’s growing telecom sector.

India is a “trusted” technology partner of the US, and this partnership has the potential to go beyond semiconductors to the entire electronics supply chain, US commerce secretary Gina Raimondo said on Friday, striking a contrast with China, with whom the US has apprehensions about sharing critical technology.

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal exchanges greetings with the United States (US) Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo at a joint press conference, in New Delhi on Friday. (ANI)
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal exchanges greetings with the United States (US) Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo at a joint press conference, in New Delhi on Friday. (ANI)

HT learnt from officials that the US is also “keen to take India’s telecom stack for 5G”, indicating an interest in the country’s growing telecom sector. The official spoke about this development after Raimondo met Prime Minister Narendra Modi for over half-an-hour on Friday evening. Raimondo told the PM that the US and India were entering a period of even more intense cooperation, the official said, adding that Modi told the visiting US commerce secretary that when we think of AI, apart from thinking of artificial intelligence, we need to think of “America India”.

Addressing a joint press meet with commerce minister Piyush Goyal after the two countries agreed to establish a semiconductor supply chain and innovation partnership during the India-US Commercial Dialogue, Raimondo said: “I think, there is opportunity in the entire electronic supply chain, not just semiconductors… So, as I said, we see India as a trusted technology partner… and we want to continue to deepen our technological relationship with India. In fact, we recently launched the iCET -- critical and emerging technology with India and we hope to work more closely with India in private sector here around those technologies.”

The issue of trusted technology partners and vendors emerged in 2020 when much of the West and India decided to exclude China’s Huawei from 5G telephone networks over concerns that they could carry backdoors that could be used for espionage.

Goyal said the two partners are working on close economic ties. “@SecRaimondo and I look forward to fast and outcome-oriented actions, that help us realise our ambitions sooner, benefiting industries and people in both countries. Both nations follow ‘can do’ & ‘to do’ attitude, leading us to significant deliverables,” Goyal‘s office said in a tweet.

In May last year, President Biden and Prime Minister Modi announced the US-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) to “elevate and expand” strategic technology partnership and defence industrial cooperation between the governments, businesses, and academic institutions of the two countries.

Raimondo expressed trust in the relationship with India, as compared to China because Washington has apprehensions that sharing critical technologies with China could lead to misuse by Beijing for military purposes.

Replying to a specific question on the US efforts to decouple from China, she said: “The United States does not seek to decouple from China. Nor does it seek technological decoupling from China. What we seek to do is ensure that certain technologies where the United States is ahead, and where China’s explicit strategy is to have these technologies and deploy them in Chinese military apparatus… those are technologies that we have used export control to ban the sale to China.”

Raimondo added: “So, we enjoy trade with China. The vast majority of trade with China is in benign products and that will and should continue. So, this isn’t about decoupling,” she said adding that the US has kept its “eyes wide open” to the fact that China is explicitly trying to get access to American technology for use in its military. “We need to protect ourselves and our allies and partners from that happening.”

The commerce secretary’s India visit is timed with Washington’s efforts to limit China’s growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region. It already resorted to export controls on chip-making technology to China last year and has been vocal about India as an emerging destination for “friendshoring”, or manufacturing and sourcing goods from countries with shared values.

Also read: US-China relation is at an inflection point

After the India-US Commercial Dialogue, Goyal and Raimondo issued a joint statement that recognised the need for “increased bilateral strategic and high technology trade” and collaboration given the shared priority of building “resilient and trusted” global supply chains and the mutual interest in taking forward the outcomes of iCET.

In a joint statement minister Goyal and the secretary Raimondo noted with satisfaction that the bilateral goods and services trade has almost doubled since 2014, exceeding $191 billion in 2022, signaling accelerated growth benefitting both countries. “With the United States becoming India’s largest trading partner in 2022, both sides will take further steps to enhance their commercial collaboration and tap into market potential across multiple sectors. Both sides envision further coordination on how best to foster an enabling environment for increased investment, including by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and start-up companies,” it said.

On the invitation of Goyal, Raimondo advanced her visit by a day to celebrate Holi on March 7. The Commercial Dialogue they held is part of ongoing efforts to strengthen the US-India Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, develop inclusive and fair trade and investment policies, and leverage the interests of the private sector in pursuing new market opportunities that advance prosperity in both countries.

The US commerce secretary called the India trip one that she would “never forget”, particularly celebrating Holi at the home of defence minister Rajnath Singh. “I never had experience quite like that” and it was an “opportunity for me to experience one of the many cultural tradition that makes India so special and such special place,” she said.

This is an optimistic time for US-India relationship,” Raimondo said, calling the partnership between the two countries as “most consequential” as the two have shared goal to establish “a free, open, ruled-based order”.

She praised the Modi government for undertaking bold economic reforms to make India more attractive investment destination. One of the key attractions is the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme to over a dozen of manufacturing sectors, including about $10 billion incentives for semiconductor manufacturing, and cited rapid digitalisation of the Indian economy and zero tolerance for corruption as other attractions.

Goyal noted India’s interest in partnering with the United States in developing a secure pharmaceutical manufacturing base and diversifying supply chains for critical and strategic minerals (including rare earths). The two partners recognised that small businesses, entrepreneurs and startups ecosystems are the lifeblood of the two economies and facilitating collaboration in both countries.

“India and United States are natural allies because of shared democratic values and both believe in rule-based global order. At this juncture, when world is facing headwinds due to the breakdown of global supply chain, India has emerged as a reliable partner and a supplier of goods and services,” said Abhishek A Rastogi, author and legal professional.

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