India-US Joint Statement June 2023

In June 2023, Indian PM Modi made a state visit to the US White House. The Joint Statement released by the White House as well as the Ministry of External Affairs, India, highlighted cooperation between the two democracies on wide-ranging issues. The gist I have analysed from it is presented in this article :

Nature of Partnership

U.S.-India Comprehensive Global and Strategic Partnership
Democracy
Freedom
Rule of law
Human rights
Partnership of democracies

Indo-Pacific as a theatre of cooperation

Indo-Pacific - Strategic Convergence in the Indo-Pacific - for Maritime domain awareness - SOP for HADR
Prime Minister Modi welcomed the United States joining the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative and President Biden welcomed India’s continued participation as an observer in the Partners in the Blue Pacific
Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF)
India-U.S Commercial Dialogue
Indian Ocean Rim Association
Blue Dot Network
Multilateral and regional groupings
Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) - to contribute toward a free, open, inclusive, rules-based and resilient Indo-Pacific… 4 democracies…It doesn’t need to be inclusive in its membership because it’s inclusive in its agenda. Unlike other multi-national formulations, Quad does not have a head-honcho nation even when the four democracies are of different sizes, with different national and economic problems to resolve…. The Quad is one of the most prominent examples of Asia’s ‘new minilateralism’… wide-ranging agenda( relief to tech to security)

Defense cooperation

Defense Industrial Cooperation Roadmap … eg. “coproduction” of Tejas GE engines by Tejas & HAL (full ToT)
annual “2+2” Ministerial Dialogue
Innovation Bridge - to connect defence startups of both nations (to link the startup ecosystems of the two countries)
India’s emergence as a hub for maintenance and repair for forward deployed U.S. Navy assets
U.S.-India Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X) - a network of universities, startups, industry and think tanks
MQ9 (Reaper) UAV of General Atomics US… primarily for ISR (helpful in LoC/LAC) (much cost-effective cf. P8 manned naval aircraft) & secondarily for attack (nb. MQ1 ie. Predator used Hellfire missiles after 9/11)

Diplomatic relations

H1B and L visa holders..to augment processing of visa applications
Social security totalization agreement… negotiations phase
Consulates
Cultural Property Agreement

Technology partnership

1. Space cooperation

Artemis Accords
NASA and ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation)
Joint effort to the International Space Station
NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) is delivered to ISRO for launch from Bangalore
Space Policy – 2023

2. Telecom

Open RAN (Radio Access Network) … Joint Task Force of vendors, operators, experts, etc
5G/6G technologies… Joint Task Force
India’s Bharat 6G Alliance (B6GA) and the U.S. Next G Alliance

3. Pharmaceutical supply chains

countering the illicit drug production and supply chain…bilateral Counternarcotics Working Group
addressing workforce shortages

4. IR 4.0

Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET)
Critical Minerals Supply Chain - also ref MSP (Minerals Security Partnership)
LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) & Fermilab
Semiconductor supply chain
Strategic Trade Dialogue
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Quantum computing
Quantum Entanglement Exchange
Quantum Coordination Mechanism
Quantum Information Science and Technology agreement

5. Climate

Hydrogen energy
Lifestyle for Environment initiative (LiFE)
Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030
Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (SCEP)
Partnership to Advance Clean Energy (PACE)
Ongoing negotiations between (NPCIL) and Westinghouse Electric Company (WEC) for the construction of six nuclear reactors in India
Biofuels - Global Biofuels Alliance
Indian Railways’ ambitious target to become a “net-zero” carbon emitter by 2030 (India has pledged net zero by 2070 and reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by less than 45% by 2030 and urged developed countries to provide climate finance of $1 trillion at the earliest.)
Sustainable aviation fuels

Anti-Terrorism

Expressed deep concern about situation in Myanmar
Ballistic missile launches by Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)
Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula
UN-listed terrorist groups including Al-Qa’ida, ISIS/Daesh, Lashkar e-Tayyiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), and Hizb-ul-Mujhahideen
Called for Justice in 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot attacks
Concern towards increasing drone usage by terrosrists
Cybersecurity issues
Open, secure, inclusive, safe, interoperable, and reliable Internet

Other Useful References :

https://nisar.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/get-to-know-sar/overview/
https://www.o-ran.org/who-we-are
https://thewire.in/space/indian-to-space-station-is-it-sare-jahan-se-accha-2-0
https://tulsaworld.com/opinion/column/opinion-u-s-manufacturing-woes-worse-than-people-realize-and-extend-to-medicine/article_aba5abe6-24b7-11ee-82ba-431cf38c15d2.html
https://www.iseas.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/ISEAS_Perspective_2023_63.pdf