US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi ahead of his scheduled US visit next week and discussed issues of mutual concern. Sullivan on Tuesday made some promising remarks on the upcoming state visit of Modi. He said President Biden is thrilled with what's happening in India and PM Modi's visit will fundamentally remove obstacles in defense and high-tech trade between India and the United States. "Reviewed progress under India-US Initiative on Critical & Emerging Technologies (iCET) and other issues of bilateral cooperation. Look forward to meeting US President Joe Biden during my upcoming State Visit to the US," tweeted PM Modi soon after meeting Sullivan. The Prime Minister's Office said in a statement that Sullivan briefed Modi on the progress in various sectors of bilateral cooperation and conveyed that the US President Joe Biden is looking forward to welcome Modi who is scheduled to visit the US on June 22. "PM expressed satisfaction at the growing and deepening Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership between India and the US," the statement said. The Indian PM also said that he is looking forward to an engaging conversation with Biden on bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual concern. Earlier, Sullivan who arrived in New Delhi on a two-day official visit met his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval for restricted discussions on regional and global issues of mutual concern. They also attended the second dialogue on India-US Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry. Modi and Biden had launched India-US Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies on the side lines of the Quad Summit in Tokyo in May 2022. The first dialogue was organized by the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C. in January 2023. Both the NSAs appealed to participants including leading representatives of academia and industry to strive for partnerships helpful for co-development and co-production of high technology products and services in India and the US. Both officials unveiled an ambitious road map for Indo-US collaboration in seven specific high-technology areas. These would include semiconductors, next-generation telecommunication, defense and more. "Both our nations are fundamentally on the trajectory of growth and strength," said Sullivan during his speech at the event. "Together, we have deep wells of talents, capital, innovations and expertise and these are going to be put to good use," he added. Sullivan also held talks with India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and other senior Indian officials ahead of Modi's visit to Washington. The iCET is expected to forge closer linkages between the government, academia and industry of the two countries in areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, 5G and 6G, biotech, space and semiconductors. — Agencies
