US National Security Advisor (NSA) Jake Sullivan on Monday arrived inIndia to meet Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar, with his two-day visit focusing on deepening strategic partnerships in critical and emerging technologies and addressing pressing geopolitical concerns.This includes issues over China‘s dam construction near India‘s borders.
Sullivan is also to meet Indian counterpart Ajit Doval, meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and address the Indian entrepreneurs at IIT-D, Delhi. This visit comes after Jaishankar‘s trip to the US, where he met Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, along with many top officials.
iCET Meeting: Where Tech Partnership Strengthens
What should be highlighted through Sullivan‘s visit, though, are co-chairing the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) meeting with India’s National Security Adviser, Ajit Doval. iCET was conceived in 2022 by President Joe Biden from the United States and Prime Minister Modi of India to enhance its technology cooperation collaboration and defence–industrial cooperation partnership.
This is the third iCET meeting co-chaired by Sullivan and Doval, the second of which happened in June 2024. The areas expected to bediscussed include artificial intelligence, space exploration, military licensing, civilian nuclear cooperation, and addressing Chinese economic overcapacity.
Chinese Dam Construction Concerns
Another important issue on the agenda is the construction of China’s massive Brahmaputra River dam in Tibet, close to India‘s border. The mega dam, the world‘s largest, has generated alarm over its potential environmental and geopolitical implications.
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#WATCH | External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar meets US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, in Delhi. pic.twitter.com/HiLyVPCqY9
— ANI (@ANI) January 6, 2025
US officials criticised the weaponising of water flows and its threat to downstream states such as India. “Upstream dams like the Mekong region by Chinese have proven to be deleterious impacts on the environment as well as in terms of climatic conditions”, said a high-ranking US government official.
Augmenting innovation and entrepreneurship
Sullivan will also meet young Indian entrepreneurs to discuss the progress under the iCET framework. The White House highlighted innovation and collaboration between both nations as imperative, underlining shared progress in critical sectors of technology.
Sullivan‘s visit marks one of the high points in the US-India relationship and happens to be one of the last high-level interactions of the Obama administration with Donald Trump, now the president-elect, assuming the office on January 20.
