NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden on Friday vowed to “deepen and diversify” the bilateral major defence partnership while welcoming forward movement in India's procurement of 31 drones and joint development of jet engines.
The two leaders met for 50 minutes hours after Biden landed in New Delhi for the G20 summit. The two leaders deliberated on India's G20 presidency, cooperation in nuclear energy, critical and emerging technologies such as 6G and artificial intelligence, and ways to fundamentally reshape multilateral development banks.
They discussed ways to strengthen the Comprehensive Global and Strategic Partnership (CGSP) that “spans the seas to the stars.”
Soon after the meeting, the two sides issued a joint statement. On defence cooperation, it noted that the Congressional notification process had been completed on August 29 and negotiations had commenced for a commercial agreement between GE Aerospace and Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL) to manufacture GE F-414 jet engines in India.
The two sides recommitted to work collaboratively and expeditiously to support the advancement of this “unprecedented” co-production and technology transfer proposal.
President Biden, the statement said, welcomed India issuing a letter of request to procure 31 General Atomics MQ-9B (16 Sky Guardian and 15 Sea Guardian) remotely piloted aircraft and their associated equipment.
In the talks, Biden lauded India's G20 Presidency for further demonstrating how G20 as a forum is delivering important outcomes.
The joint statement said Modi and Biden reaffirmed commitment to G20 and expressed confidence that the outcomes of the summit will advance shared goals.
The two leaders also reaffirmed the importance of Quad in supporting a free, open, inclusive, and resilient Indo-Pacific.
Modi looked forward to welcoming Biden to the next Quad leaders' summit to be hosted by India in 2024, it said.
The two leaders also called on their governments to continue work on transforming the India-US strategic partnership across all dimensions and reiterated their support for building resilient global semiconductor supply chains.
“The leaders re-emphasised that the shared values of freedom, democracy, human rights, inclusion, pluralism, and equal opportunities for all citizens are critical to the success our countries enjoy and that these values strengthen our relationship,” it said.
Soon after the meeting ended late on Friday evening, Modi said, “Happy to have welcomed President Biden… Our meeting was very productive. We were able to discuss numerous topics which will further economic and people to people linkages between India and USA. The friendship between our nations will continue to play a great role in furthering global good.”
According to some reports, Modi hosted the US President for dinner. President Biden on his arrival in New Delhi was welcomed by Union minister of state Gen. V.K. Singh (retd).
5G and 6G technologies wre also discussed at the meeting. “Sharing a vision of secure and trusted telecommunications, resilient supply chains, and global digital inclusion, Prime Minister Modi and President Biden welcomed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Bharat 6G Alliance and Next G Alliance, operated by Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions, as a first step towards deepening public-private cooperation between vendors and operators.”
They further acknowledged the setting-up of two Joint Task Forces focused on collaboration in the field of Open RAN and research and development in 5G/6G technologies. A 5G Open RAN pilot in a leading Indian telecom operator will be undertaken by a U.S. Open RAN manufacturer before field deployment,” the joint statement said.
It added, “The leaders reiterated their support for building resilient global semiconductor supply chains, noting in this respect a multi-year initiative of Microchip Technology, Inc., to invest approximately US$300 million in expanding its research and development presence in India and Advanced Micro Device’s announcement to invest US$400 million in India over the next five years to expand research, development, and engineering operations in India.”
