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Amid concerns over a strain in the India-U.S. relationship over comments ahead of the general election, two high-level visits are being planned by Delhi and Washington
Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra is likely to visit the U.S. mid-April for consultations with the U.S. State Department, and both sides are also trying to schedule a visit by U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan to Delhi
The U.S. and India have been working on a mutually agreeable date for iCET discussions
iCET
It was announced by India and the US in May 2022 and was officially launched in January 2023 and is being run by the National Security Council of both countries.
Under iCET, both countries have identified six areas of cooperation which would include co-development and co-production, that would gradually be expanded to QUAD, then to NATO, followed by Europe and the rest of the world.
Under iCET, India is ready to share its core technologies with the US and expects Washington to do the same.
It aims to promote collaboration in critical and emerging technology areas, including AI, quantum computing, semiconductors, and wireless telecommunication.
Focus Areas of the Initiative:
AI research agency partnership.
Defense industrial cooperation, defense technological cooperation, and defense startups.
Innovation Ecosystems.
Semiconductor ecosystem development.
Cooperation on human spaceflight.
Advancement in 5G and 6G technologies, and adoption of OpenRAN (Open Radio Access Network) network technology in India.
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