Articles
This chapter was made possible through a grant from the Hindu American Foundation.
On May 24, 2022, President Joe Biden met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the Quad summit in Tokyo. According to the White House readout of the meeting, “The leaders reviewed the progress made in the US-India Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership. They committed to deepen the Major Defense Partnership, encourage economic engagement that benefits both countries, and expand partnership on global health, pandemic preparedness, and critical and emerging technologies.” While such statements are often aspirational and lag in implementation, the first four months of 2023 show the renaissance in US-India ties to be real.
Elections and Infrastructure
Both Biden and Modi have consistently and vocally emphasized their desire to increase the share of manufacturing in their respective economies. For the US, this meant reviving lost glory of the 1990s when it was a market leader in what are today several vital and critical sectors such as semiconductor manufacturing and processing of critical minerals.
Through industrial policies such as the CHIPS and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the bipartisan infrastructure law, the Biden administration has channeled investments from the private sector by offering generous subsidies. Recently, the Financial Times reported that conglomerates had committed to over $200 billion in new investments over the last year as a product of these bills. Similarly, Modi, at almost the end of his second term in office has continued the policy focus on infrastructure and manufacturing with the government’s annual budget featuring an increase in capital expenditure. That increase provides much-needed capital for infrastructure investments throughout the nation, including for defense needs that have gained significance since the People Liberation Army’s (PLA) incursions into Indian territory.
Figure 1 US President Joe Biden and India Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the G-20 Summit on Nov. 15, 2022 in Bali, Indonesia. Photo: Reuters
Moreover, while India has officially surpassed China to become the most populous nation in the world, it continues to face public and private infrastructure bottlenecks impacting not just business and trade interests but the larger quality of life for the poorest Indians. A region that was in dire need of such infrastructure was India’s northeast. Successive coalition governments led by national founder Jawaharlal Nehru’s Indian National Congress (INC) adopted a policy of neglect, wherein any intervention was deemed a violation of the sovereign rights of the ethnic groups that called that region home.
By failing to prioritize India’s northeastern states, both in terms of infrastructure development and security, New Delhi was making a part of the nation highly vulnerable to foreign interference, particularly by Myanmar and—to a much larger extent—China. The Modi government’s infrastructure push in this region and the rehabilitation of several separatist outfits by the India-Myanmar border has earned him widespread support in the area. Notably, in early 2023, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won elections in three Christian majority states of northeast India, demonstrating that the BJP’s platform is successful across religious boundaries. Even a decade ago, this would have been considered impossible. The Modi government’s drive to cut red-tape and develop infrastructure have resonated with most northeastern states in India.
The Biden administration’s legislative successes such as the IRA and CHIPS and Science Act caused considerable discontent among its allies and partners in East Asia and Europe. New Delhi’s response to this legislation has ranged from oblivious to welcoming. New Delhi’s standard operating procedure does not include offering policy recommendations nor criticizing domestic policies of partner nations, but even the Indian business community has not overtly criticized nor expressed concerns about such policies as have their East Asian or European peers. This is a product of shared concerns over a rising and authoritarian China. Starting with the response to the Galwan valley clash, thereafter with the Doklam, New Delhi’s response to Chinese acts of aggression consistently have a strong economic component. India prefers using tools of economic statecraft over conventional retaliation in its clash with China. For example, while Washington is still deliberating a ban on TikTok, New Delhi has set an example for successfully curbing Chinese influence through its businesses by banning all or most Chinese mobile applications in the country.
Figure 2 US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan’s “New Washington Consensus” resonates in New Delhi. Photo: AP
In late April, the US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, speaking to a packed audience at Brookings Institution, clarified the administration’s agenda of creating new economic and trade coalitions and the risk of isolating traditional allies and partners. This paradigm shift in the conceptualization of economic policy in Washington DC, wherein trade policy and national security policymaking intersect at varying points to influence each other, has support among historically protectionist traders such as India. The “New Washington Consensus,” as some analysts have described it, resonates in New Delhi, which even after its partial liberalization, privatization, and globalization (LPG) measures in 1991 holds on to trade protectionism, citing the welfare of domestic workers and industry. With the new Washington Consensus, New Delhi and Washington not only have identified shared threats, but similar mechanisms to address them.
While Washington’s infrastructure drive seeks a revival of manufacturing, an increase in jobs and the transition to a green economy, both the Modi and Biden administrations’ mandate was partially realized in the last four months.
With the announcement that Biden be will running for a second term in 2024, both he and Modi will be contesting elections in 2024. Regardless of the result, the US-India partnership will continue to flourish. The catalyst for bipartisan cooperation has been growing consensus that China poses a shared threat to both the world’s largest and oldest democracies. Relations have expanded beyond political ties to people-to-people and business partnerships, particularly in the high-technology sphere.
Critical Technology is Critical to Bilateral Ties
The US-India partnership is on a steady upward trajectory as a result of Washington and New Delhi making a concerted effort to move past Cold-War differences and toward advancing Indo-Pacific synergies. The major backers of this recalibration were not Washington nor New Delhi but Silicon Valley and India’s own version of Silicon Valley, Bengaluru. Since the Y2K years, US software companies have relied on Indian engineers to program and code complex software. This reliance on Indian technology talent coupled with the H1-B visa program gave birth to the information technology behemoths of Bengaluru. For the US, the technology giants of the ‘90s such as IBM, Oracle, and Microsoft and the new social media and e-commerce conglomerates Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple, or “GAFA,” have grown exponentially by capitalizing on the abundant engineering talent from India and the largely liberal US visa system. This two-decade partnership not only transformed startups into billion-dollar technology powerhouses, but it has also paved the way for increased advanced and critical technological cooperation between the two governments.
During the Quad meeting in Tokyo in May 2022, Biden and Modi announced the US-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET). On Jan. 31, 2023, National Security Advisors Jake Sullivan and Ajit Doval inaugurated the iCET in Washington, DC. Not only Sullivan’s presence, but that seniority of the entire US delegation, which included the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the director of the National Science Foundation, and senior officials from the Departments of State, Commerce, and Defense, signaled the importance Washington puts on developing ties with New Delhi. The same was true on the Indian side, with the government of India’s principal scientific advisor, the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, the secretary of the Department of Telecommunications, and the director-general of the Defence Research and Development Organization accompanying Doval.
The meeting advanced cooperation. The two sides signed a partnership agreement between the National Science Foundation and Indian science agencies to collaborate on a number of hot button and sensitive areas, such as artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, and high-performance computing. The two sides developed a bilateral Defense Industrial Cooperation Roadmap with a focus on jet engines, munitions, and other systems. Aircraft engines are two technologies on which India lags behind top powers. That the United States is not linking its support for India’s qualitative military development to similar US deals with Pakistan show that the decades-old linkage that guided US policy toward South Asia is eroding, if not already obsolete. A second meeting later this year in New Delhi suggests both countries see iCET as a regular event, rather than a sporadic one.
Nor are marquee meetings the only venues for progress. In March 2023, Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo and Union Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal signed a Memorandum of Understanding on enhancing the semiconductor supply chain during the India-USA Commercial Dialogue in Delhi. As part of the agreement, the US Semiconductor Industry Association and the India Electronic Semiconductor Association decided to form a task force to develop a “readiness assessment” of both near-term opportunities and longer-term strategic development. Illustrative of the new environment was the warmth surrounding Raimondo’s visit. In Delhi, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh hosted her at his official residence for celebrations of Holi, the festival of Colors, Love, and Spring. The following month, Union Finance Minister Nirmala traveled to Washington for World Bank-International Fund meetings, but separately met with US Treasury Secretary Janet.
Figure 3 Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, at the grand opening of the company’s first retail store in India. Photo: Apple
The biggest developments, however, may not be government-government. In April 2023, Apple opened its first store in India. Apple’s entry into India reflected the effort both to establish alternatives to China’s dominance of supply chains and to gain a larger share of the market in a country that, according to the United Nations Population Fund, now has the world’s largest population. Apple’s strategy is already paying dividends. In 2019, Apple had only a 1% share of India’s smartphone market; by 2023, that share had quintupled.
India’s demographic reality appears ready to put its economy into overdrive. “India looks like China did 30 years ago,” the Wall Street Journal explained. “It has a rapidly expanding working-age population with 610 million people under age 25, and relatively few older people to care for. It will be the only nation with a big enough labor force to approach China as the world’s factory floor,” if it can overcome poor infrastructure and self-defeating protectionist rules and regulations.
India’s second-largest domestic air carrier, Air India, placed an order for 470 aircraft, valued at over $34 billion with Boeing. Two hundred of them are to be made in the US. Celebrating this announcement, Biden referred to it as a historic purchase with a potential to create about a million jobs in 44 states across the US. This is another occasion where economic policies are in sync. As Sullivan said at the Brookings Institution in late April, the “New Washington Consensus” is not isolationist. Allies and partners can also benefit from the industrial policies.
Over the last seven years, the US has worked toward reshoring manufacturing and creating jobs within its shores and India under Modi has actively worked toward privatizing industry and revitalizing government enterprises that have potential. Recently, renowned economists touted the Indian economy as the major global economy with the lowest possibility for a recession in 2023. Coupled with its strong macroeconomic fundamentals, and policy reforms the Indian growth story is on the right track and the US technological and advanced manufacturing giants have lot to gain from a flourishing US-India partnership.
Figure 4 Critical minerals industries are becoming an increasingly key component of the US-India strategic partnership. Photo: Getty Images
Furthermore, sectors such as critical minerals, batteries and semiconductors have renewed significance over the last three years due to geopolitical concerns over Taiwan and fears of weaponization of interdependence by China. In this environment, nations have embarked on scramble for critical minerals and India discovered one of the world’s largest deposits of lithium within its shores. In February 2023, the Geological Survey of India announced a major perspective lithium find in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pir Panjal mountain range. If initial estimates of the deposit’s size — 5.9 million tons of lithium – are correct, then the find might not only enable greater self-sufficiency for India, but also allow greater strategic partnership with the US, especially as the demand for lithium batteries for electric vehicles and other increases.
Iron Brothers Turn Shamans, Reviving Ghosts from the Past
Upon partition in 1947, India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, sought non-alignment in name although, in practice, New Delhi leaned closer to the Soviet bloc during the Cold War. This was part in ideological given the anti-colonial sentiment that India’s first leaders embraced, and part practical: Nehru’s rebuff of President Harry Truman’s calls for partnership led the United States to ally with Pakistan.
With the downfall of the Soviet Union, the United States and India reconsidered their diplomatic positions. Neither the US nor India define their core national interests the same, but since the first decade of the 21st century, neither Washington nor New Delhi has been willing to allow their differences to impede development of stronger foreign policy and security ties.
While skeptics such as Ashley Tellis, Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs and a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (and an architect of US-India rapprochement under George W. Bush’s administration), have downplayed the potential of US-India strategic ties based on mutual concern about China, this concern apparently fails to see the forest through the trees. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was the guest of honor for President Barack Obama’s first state dinner. In Washington, even as criticism of Modi’s human rights record persists, the strategic embrace of India remains a bipartisan endeavor.
Figure 5 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states in Samarkand, Uzbekistan last September. Photo: Foreign Ministry of Uzbekistan/Reuters
India continues to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), including hosting a meeting of SCO member country national security advisors on March 22, 2023. India’s participation remains part of its broad engagement approach and does not suggest ideological fealty to the SCO’s geopolitical leanings, especially given the presence of rivals China and Pakistan in the bloc. Rather, India finds the SCO as a useful venue for diplomacy. Doval has repeatedly used the SCO as cover for talks with his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev.
India increasingly relishes its role as an international mediator. Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova traveled to New Delhi in April 2023 to advocate for stronger ties between India and Ukraine. She called on India to play a greater role both on the Ukraine issue and globally.
It is unclear for how much longer India will be able to pursue warm ties with all parties, however. In a March 2023 meeting, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio pushed Modi to choose between the world’s democracies and its business and military dealings with Russia. “I want to stop Russia’s invasion as fast as possible,” Kishida explained. “To achieve that, the international community, including the Global South, must speak out.” India appears unwilling to submit to any ultimatum however; rather, it has continued talks in pursuit of an India-Russia free trade agreement, though these have yet to come to fruition. Russia seeks Indian goods to compensate for Western sanctions and the exit of many Western companies; many Indian businesses see a business opportunity to expand into an important market. The danger here, though, is if expansion into Russia comes at the expense of opportunities for trade in the West. California, Texas, and New York each individually have economies greater than that of Russia.
While the Pentagon worries about India’s military ties to Russia, Russia’s inability to honor arms delivery contracts to India due to its own needs in Ukraine provide an opportunity for the United States to expand military trade with India. While the Indian Air Force did not specify the contents of the “major delivery” on which Russia would default, India had been expecting further fulfillment of a $5.4 billion of S-400 Triumf air defense system units it had ordered in 2018, only a portion of which Russia sent.
The United States solidified its ties with India in two important ways in March 2023. First, the Senate confirmed former Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti to be ambassador. Garcetti’s confirmation ended a more than two-year period in which various chargés or interim appointees filled the position. Biden appointed Garcetti six months into his presidency — already a delay long enough that Indians could take offense — but his appointment languished due to concerns among Senate Democrats that he had not responded forcefully enough to sexual harassment and bullying allegations against a staff member. That Biden reappointed Garcetti in the new Congress and he won confirmation puts the day-to-day management of US-India affairs on more stable footing.
Also in March 2023, word leaked that the United States had provided India with important intelligence during a December 2021 clash between Indian forces along the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh. The near real-time intelligence that the US provided enabled India not only to avoid any casualties, but also enabled the Indian Army to force a Chinese retreat. While senior Indian government officials had been previously privy to the fact of US intelligence sharing, wider dissemination might show Indians traditionally more reticent about security ties that Washington is interested in a two-way relationship and that India has something to gain from cooperation with the US. China’s continued bluster toward the region — renaming towns and villages in state and asserting a Chinese claim to sovereignty — only drives New Delhi closer to Washington. After Home Minister Amit Shah visited the eastern state, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin quipped, “The Indian official’s visit to Zangnan [the Chinese name for Arunachal Pradesh] violates China’s territorial sovereignty and is not conducive to the peace and tranquility of the border situation.”
Similarly, China’s alleged cooperation with Myanmar to build a surveillance station in the Coco Islands in the eastern Bay of Bengal also heightened India-China tension. While in the early 2000s the Indian Navy alerted the Indian government of the alleged securitization of the island by China, the development did not impact India-Myanmar relations at that time. Moreover, the Burmese military invited Indian defense officials to put to rest concerns of military infrastructure development. Fast forward to 2023, the PRC has allegedly again revived military activity on the islands, potentially providing an alternative route to the Indian Ocean and a fix to the Malacca Dilemma. Arindam Bagchi, a spokesman for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, said India would take “necessary measures” to address the issue. “The government keeps a constant watch on all developments having a bearing on India’s security,” he said.
There are storm clouds on the horizon with regard to US-India ties. India’s August 2019 revocation of Article 370 that had granted Jammu and Kashmir special, autonomous status undermined Pakistani efforts to utilize Kashmiri separatism as a lever against India. Over the subsequent three and a half years, Kashmir’s security has increased and its economy has grown. This has apparently led Pakistan’s security apparatus to begin supporting Sikh separatism under the guise of the so-called Khalistan movement. Within the Indian security apparatus, there is growing concern that the US remains either aloof to the Khalistani threat and/or does not recognize that Khalistani activists are not indigenous. Friction continues as Khalistani activists that New Delhi insists Pakistani’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency direct both fundraise in the United States and demonstrate increasingly violently. A March 19, 2023, attack by pro-Khalistan protestors that damaged India’s consulate in San Francisco highlighted this trend.
Conclusion
The White House coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs, Kurt Campbell, early in 2023, singled out India as the major US diplomatic focus for the upcoming year. Speaking at an event, he said “our interests are to see India playing an ever larger, responsible role in almost everything that we’re doing.” To that end, the first four months of 2023 were a great start.
The US-India partnership continued to expand in the four months between January and April 2023. Defense, technology and economic cooperation grew significantly in scope. The Biden administration’s democracy summit, Quad meetings, and bilateral meetings between various divisions and departments of the US and Indian governments show there will be no lack of engagement at the highest levels of government. Supplementing the high-level cooperation, people-to-people ties will witness a revived enthusiasm thanks to Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s work to ease the visa backlog in consulates in India. This will allow more Indian students and professionals to travel to the US and back with ease.
The synergies in macroeconomic policies in both countries enabled complimentary business and technological agreements such as iCET. With India actively seeking alternatives to Russian defense imports, partners for a rapid transition to a renewable energy powered economy, and to advance in the fourth industrial revolution, the US has been forthcoming with security, technology and economic partnerships and in the coming months that trend will gather momentum.
Chronology by Pacific Forum Nonresident Fellow Angela Hou.
Jan. 9, 2022: Assistant Director of the US National Science Foundation Margaret Martonosi arrives in New Delhi to further bilateral collaboration on science and technology.
Jan. 10, 2022: US Ambassador Elizabeth Jones announces a US government-funded project to support conservation and restoration at the Paigah Tombs, the fifth cultural preservation project in Hyderabad.
Jan. 10, 2023: US State Department’s Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu visits India and Bangladesh to engage with government officials and civil society to further energy, trade, labor and security partnerships and promote human rights in the region.
Jan. 11, 2023: During a visit from Jan. 8-12, Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, and Food and Public Distribution and Textiles Piyush Goyal participates in the 13th India-US Trade Policy Forum, hosted in tandem with United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai. They discuss complementarities and how to forge robust bilateral trade and investment ties. He also meets Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to discuss the upcoming commercial dialogue, CEO Forum, and continuing work under the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.
Jan. 12, 2023: US Assistant Director for Computer and Information Science and Engineering at the National Science Foundation Margaret Martonosi meets Indian Secretary of Department of Science and Technology Dr. Chandra Srivari. They express a keen interest in collaborating in critical and emerging technologies.
Jan. 12, 2023: USS Anchorage (LPD23) participates in a cooperative deployment alongside the Indian Navy’s Kora-class corvette INS Karmuk (P64) in the Indian Ocean.
Jan. 13, 2023: US National Science Foundation discusses and proposes deeper cooperation with India in areas like AI, cyber security, quantum, semiconductors, clean energy, advanced wireless, biotechnology, geosciences, astrophysics, and defense.
Jan. 13, 2023: Officials representing the State Department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs meet Indian Ministry of External Affairs’ Joint Secretary Ambule at the East Asia Consultations.
Jan. 14, 2023: Indian Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri meets virtually with Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm at the India-US Forum to spotlight bilateral energy trade.
Jan. 15, 2023: US Secretary of State delivers remarks for the India-US Forum.
Jan. 17, 2023: India Ambassador to the US Sandhu meets with the Center for Disease Control to discuss health care cooperation as a key pillar of the bilateral relationship.
Jan. 17, 2023: Director of United States Trade and Development Agency Enoh T. Ebong meets Indian Ministry of Earth Sciences and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, underscoring USTDA support for innovative ocean thermal energy conversion project for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands as part of its global procurement initiative.
Jan. 17, 2023: Indian Joint Secretary Jagdale of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy meets US International Trade Administration Assistant Secretary Aran Venkataraman to identify opportunities for US clean-tech companies to assist India in achieving energy sustainability goals. Venkataraman also meets Secretary Barthwal and Joint Secretary Kumar of the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry to advance the upcoming bilateral commercial dialogue.
Jan. 23, 2023: Ambassador Sandhu addresses the India-US space roundtable to discuss opportunities for bilateral partnership in the commercial space sector.
Jan. 24, 2023: Ambassador Sandhu attends the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Office of the US Trade Representative at the White House.
Jan. 24, 2023: USAID and AMCHAM India sign MOU to expand areas of collaboration between US and Indian businesses in support of India’s development goals, committing to leverage combined capacities to address the climate crisis, advance gender equity, bolster public health, and more.
Jan. 25, 2023: Ambassador Sandhu hosts US Deputy National Security Advisor Vikram Misri, Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer, Indo-Pacific coordinator Dr. Kurt Campbell, and representatives from the US administration, think-tanks, strategic community and industry at the India House.
Jan. 25, 2023: State Department Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs recognizes the 74th Republic Day of India and celebrates India’s Constitution, reaffirming the bilateral partnership as one of the most consequential.
Jan. 26, 2023: Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman speaks at Shatter Summit to underscore the importance of women’s economic advancement to India’s growth and socioeconomic development in the Indo-Pacific.
Jan. 27, 2023: Ambassador Sandhu meets with former Secretary of Defense Gen. Mattis (r) to discuss the bilateral strategy and defense partnership.
Jan. 27, 2023: Department of Justice officials and colleagues from the Consumer Protection Branch and FBI meet Indian officials in the Central Bureau of Investigation. They commit to further cooperation in combating cybercrime and safeguarding citizens.
Jan. 30, 2023: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley meets Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval to discuss bilateral cooperation.
Jan. 30, 2023: White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval meet with representatives from industry, academia, and thought leaders at a roundtable on critical and emerging technologies.
Jan. 30, 2023: Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland meets Minister Jaishankar to discuss the Indian subcontinent, the Indo-Pacific, and convergences in the bilateral relationship.
Jan. 30, 2023: 8th US-India Civil Space Joint Working Group meeting takes place, marking discussions on improving spaceflight safety, satellite systems for global navigation, commercial space cooperation and more. The meeting highlights the Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) Mission, which will measure changes in the earth’s surface.
Jan. 31, 2023: Indian Foreign Secretary Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra meets Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nuland to discuss deepening the strategic relationship.
Jan. 31, 2023: India’s Department of Science and Technology signs an Implementation Arrangement with the US National Science Foundations, in the presence of Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and US National Security Advisor Sullivan. The latter two meet to review bilateral initiatives, discuss the launch of the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies, and share assessments of global and regional developments.
Jan. 31, 2023: Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen Hicks meets Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval to discuss bilateral defense cooperation and regional security issues.
Jan. 31, 2023: Ambassador Sandhu, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, and chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization S. Somanath address the India-US Civil Space Joint Working Group at the US State Department.
Feb. 2, 2023: Ambassador Sandhu meets Rep. Ro Khanna, co-Chair of the House India Caucus to discuss the strategic relations, economic, healthcare, renewables and knowledge partnership. He also meets Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Michael McCaul, Congressman Pete Sessions, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer and Congresswoman Young Kim, recently appointed chair of the Subcommittee on the Indo-Pacific in the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Feb. 2, 2023: Quad Senior Cyber Group meets to reaffirm advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific and enhancing cybersecurity cooperation and resilience.
Feb. 3, 2023: During his official visit to the US, Indian Principal Scientific Advisor Professor Ajay Kumar Sood meets Dr. Arati Prabhakar, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and Science Advisor to President Biden.
Feb. 3, 2023: Minister Sitharaman meets business leadership from the US to discuss implications of India’s Budget 2023 for green growth, infrastructure, digitalization, start-ups, skilling and other strands that deepen bilateral linkages.
Feb. 3, 2023: Indian Secretary of the Department of Space and Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization meets with government and industry representatives in the US.
Feb. 3, 2023: India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant meets US Ambassador Elizabeth Jones to discuss India’s G20 priorities, digital transformation and digital public infrastructure.
Feb. 6. 2023: USAID India’s Acting Deputy Mission Director John Smith-Sreen and Principal Chief Conservator of Forestry of the Rajasthan Forest Department Dr. D.N. Pandey launch the “Trees Outside Forests in India” program to mitigate climate change, improve resilience of farming systems and increase farmer incomes in the state.
Feb. 7, 2023: US National Security Advisor Sullivan and Quad counterparts launch a cyber challenge to advance cybersecurity.
Feb. 7, 2023: India Office of the Office of Global Policy and Strategy of the US Food and Drug Administration meets Goa’s Directorate of Food and Drugs Administration to discuss areas of collaboration. It culminates with a meeting with Health Secretary Shri Arun Kumar Mishra.
Feb. 8, 2023: Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra participates in the COVID Global Action Plan Foreign Ministerial meeting hosted by Secretary of State Blinken and reiterates India’s commitment to strengthening global health security, including during India’s G20 presidency.
Feb. 9, 2023: Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner notes significant US investments in defense ties with India to uphold a favorable balance of power in the Indo-Pacific.
Feb. 13, 2023: Dr. Asmeret Berhe, director of the Office of Science for the Department of Energy, visits the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser of India to discuss further advance cooperation on basic science and between Indian institutions and Fermilab in the US.
Feb. 14, 2023: Prime Minister Modi and President Biden meet to review ongoing and new initiatives to deepen the India-US Comprehensive and Global Partnership and welcome the Air India–Boeing agreement.
Feb. 14, 2023: Secretary of Commerce Raimondo announces that Air India will purchase over 200 US-made aircraft, which will be Boeing’s third biggest sale of all time and support over 1 million jobs across 44 states.
Feb. 14, 2023: Geoffrey Pyatt, Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources at the US Department of State, meets Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Energy of the Indian State of Maharashtra Abha Shukla.
Feb. 15, 2023: US displays defense technology at Aero India 2023, including the most advanced military aircraft such as a fifth-generation F35 fighter jet. Aero India 2023 is Asia’s largest aviation event and hosts government delegations and corporate executives.
Feb. 17, 2023: Geoffrey Pyatt, assistant secretary of state for energy resources, meets with the Indian Ministry of Petroleum to discuss collaboration towards a clean energy transition.
Feb. 20, 2023: Prime Minister Modi meets a US Congressional delegation led by Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer. They discuss strong bipartisan support from the Congress for deepening bilateral ties anchored in shared democratic values and strong people-to-people ties. Minister Jaishankar also meets with the delegation.
Feb. 22, 2023: India joins the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate to increase investment in agricultural innovation for climate-smart agriculture and food systems at the India-Israel-UAE-USA (I2U2) Sherpas meeting held in Abu Dhabi. India’s Secretary of External Relations Dammu Ravi attends.
Feb. 23, 2023: Minister Sitharaman meets Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen ahead of the first G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Bengaluru. They exchange views on finance track priorities under India’s G20 presidency, cooperation on the evolution of multilateral development banks, and India’s leadership role to promote sovereign debt restructuring.
Feb. 25, 2023: Secretary Yellen meets US and India technology sector executives at a roundtable in Bengaluru to discuss deepening bilateral economic ties and bolstering digital public infrastructure.
Feb. 26, 2023: Indian Minister of Water Resources Jal Shakti visits Washington, DC.
Feb, 27, 2023: US delegation of the Joint Working Group on Aircraft Carrier Technology Cooperation and Indian Naval team meet in New Delhi on Feb. 27-28, 2023.
Feb, 27, 2023: Eleven-member US delegation of the Joint Working Group on Aircraft Carrier Technology Cooperation headed by US R Adm. James Downey meets the carriers and Indian naval team led by Indian R Adm. Sandeep Mehta.
March 2, 2023: Minister Jaishankar meets Secretary of State Blinken on the margins of the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting.
March 2, 2023: Chief of Defense Staff of the Indian Armed Forces Anil Chauhan meets Commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command Adm. John Aquilino to discuss regional and maritime security, issues of bilateral interest, and avenues to strengthen defense cooperation.
March 2, 2023: Minister Jaishankar meets Quad counterparts (Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Hayashi Yoshimasa, and Secretary of State Blinken) to reaffirm support for an inclusive, resilient, free and open Indo-Pacific. They release a joint statement following the meeting. Blinken and Jaishankar also hold a bilateral meeting to discuss expanding technology and defense cooperation, increasing food, energy, and health security, and tackling a range of shared global and regional challenges.
March 7, 2023: Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh meets an American Jewish Committee Delegation to discuss areas of common interest such as enhanced defense cooperation. Minister Jaishankar also meets with the delegation to discuss the sea change in India-US and India-Israel relationships since 2014. Indian Minister for Housing, Urban Affairs, Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri also receives the delegation.
March 8, 2023: Secretary Raimondo celebrates Holi with Minister Jaishankar and Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh at the latter’s new residence.
March 9, 2023: Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman meets Secretary Raimondo to discuss India’s G20 priorities and other issues of mutual interest. Minister Jaishankar meets Raimondo to discuss strategic trade, resilient and reliable supply chains, and trust and transparency in the digital domain.
March 9, 2023: Secretary Raimondo meets Indian National Security Advisor Doval to discuss the bilateral commercial relationship and opportunities to deepen bilateral economic linkages. She also meets Indian Minister of Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan to discuss the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity Upskilling Initiative, India’s initiatives on skill development, and more.
March 10, 2023: Secretary of Commerce Raimondo meets PM Modi. She also meets CEOs and industry leaders in New Delhi to strengthen the bilateral commercial partnership, joined by the Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal. Raimondo and Goyal also sign a Memorandum of Understanding on semiconductors and electronic supply chains. They host a joint press conference following the India-USA Commercial Dialogue to address supply chain resiliency, quality standards, clean energy, and other topics. Indian Minister of State for Railways and Textiles Darshana Jardosh meets Raimondo as well to showcase circular and sustainable Indian handloom and handicrafts.
March 14, 2023: Secretary of Commerce Raimondo meets PM Modi to discuss the strength of the bilateral relationship, including partnerships in technology and innovation.
March 15, 2023: US Navy and Indian Navy meet through the Indo-US Joint Technical Group Initiative. Discussions are held under the Maritime Technical Working Group on March 14, 2023, in New Delhi.
March 16, 2023: Indian Navy’s P8I in Guam participates in Exercise Sea Dragon 2023, the third edition of the coordinated multilateral anti-submarine warfare exercise for LRMR ASW aircraft conducted by the US Navy on March 15-30, 2023. Aircraft from the US, India, Japan, Canada, and Korea engage in tracking simulated and live underwater targets.
March 17, 2023: Counselor of the Department of State Derek Chollet calls Indian Foreign Secretary Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra to discuss the shared commitment to a prosperous, free, and open Indo-Pacific and the strength of the bilateral partnership.
March 24, 2023: Ambassador Sandhu addresses the launch of the Bay Area Economy third Report on India, which highlights initiatives in the technology sector and the California-India corridor.
March 28, 2023: US–India Joint Technical Group convenes its 22nd meeting to discuss opportunities to advance defense science and technology collaboration between India and the US
March 29, 2023: Prime Minister Modi delivers remarks at the Summit for Democracy.
March 29, 2023: US Navy vessel Matthew Perry returns to Indo-Pacific waters after voyage repair in India, reflecting the commitment of the US Navy and Department of Defense to utilize repair facilities in India.
March 31, 2023: Quad Maritime Security Working Group convenes in the US, reiterating steadfast cooperation to support Indo-Pacific partners in meeting maritime challenges and preserving security, stability, and prosperity for all.
April 6, 2023: US Secretary of Commerce Raimondo visits New Delhi.
April 8, 2023: Ambassador Sandhu receives the Hero Award from Sikhs of America, where he highlights the strengthening of the bilateral partnership, technology and infrastructure transformation in India, and youth opportunities.
April 11, 2023: Ambassador Sandhu and Minister Sitharama meet Secretary of the Treasury Yellen to discuss the bilateral economic partnership and engagement in multilateral fora. Sitharama expresses appreciation for the multi-faceted bilateral partnership and called for further cooperation in addressing global economic challenges, including climate change. She also highlights the role of the G20, Quad, and IPEF in fostering this partnership. Sandhu and Sitharama then visit NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center to foster deepening bilateral partnership in space collaboration.
April 12, 2023: Ambassador Sandhu hosts Minister Sitharaman and guests from the White House, National Security Council, State Department, World Bank, IMF, development agencies, industry, non-profit organizations, think tanks, and senior officials from India.
April 14, 2023: Minister Sitharaman delivers keynote address during a seminar on India’s digital public infrastructure (DPI), organized by the IMF on public-private cooperation in DPI.
April 15, 2023: Ambassador Sandhu hosts Minister Sitharaman and Secretary of Commerce Raimondo at India House to celebrate India’s diverse cultural festivals at a “Celebrating Togetherness” event in Washington DC.
April 16, 2023: Minister Jaishankar meets Secretary of State Blinken to discuss current regional and global issues, noting steady progress in bilateral ties.
April 18, 2023: FBI Assistant Director of International Operations Raymond Duda visits New Delhi to further cooperation with law enforcement agencies to combat international crime.
April 20, 2023: Indian Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate change and Labor and Employment Bhupender Yadav participates virtually in the Leaders Meeting of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate hosted by President Biden. He highlights India’s commitment to climate action and emission-reducing initiatives.
April 20, 2023: Ambassador Sandhu meets North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore and discuss deepening bilateral connections in education, skilling, and digital technology, as well as Governor of North Carolina Roy Cooper, Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, Commerce Secretary Sanders and other senior officials. Ambassador Sandhu reaffirms bilateral small business diaspora connections in Morrisville and celebrates potential for bilateral cooperation.
April 21, 2023: US Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy meets with leaders from India to discuss strategies to counter cyber-threats and make the digital world a more secure place.
April 24, 2023: Sixth edition of Cope India-2023, an Air Exercise between the Indian and American Air Forces at Air Force Stations Kalaikunda, Panagarh and Agra concludes.
April 25, 2023: ARTPARK, an artificial intelligence and robotics technology park in India, hosts US Minister Counselor for Economic Affairs, Environment, Science and Technology Drew Schufletowski for discussions on entrepreneurship and bilateral science collaboration to advance critical and emerging technologies.
April 26, 2023: Secretary of Commerce Raimondo meets Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry Goyal to discuss progress on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity ahead of the next round of negotiations.
April 26, 2023: US Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration Thea Kendler visits Bengaluru to expand bilateral engagement in the space sector through the US Export Controls Workshop for India’s Commercial Space Industry.
April 27, 2023: 10th India-US Consular Dialogue occurs in Washington DC, with bilateral discussions on consular issues, visa matters, inter-country adoption, extradition, and people-to-people linkages.
April 27, 2023: Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Richard R. Verma joins Ambassador Sandhu and Rep. Ro Khanna to discuss trade, energy, education, defense, and people-to-people ties between India and the United States.
April 27, 2023: 10th US-India Consular Dialogue takes place in DC, reaffirming support for strong economic and people-to-people ties.
April 27, 2023: Commander of the Indo-Pacific Command Adm. Aquilino participates in a virtual Chief of Defense conference with senior military leaders from 24 countries, focusing on opportunities and challenges within the free and open Indo-Pacific.