USA-India to expand global strategic partnership in semicon, solar/RE

United States President, Joseph R. Biden, and Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, affirmed that the US-India Comprehensive Global and Strategic Partnership, the defining partnership of the 21st century, is decisively delivering on an ambitious agenda that serves the global good.  

The leaders reflected on a historic period that has seen the United States and India reach unprecedented levels of trust and collaboration.  The leaders affirmed that the US-India partnership must be anchored in upholding democracy, freedom, the rule of law, human rights, pluralism, and equal opportunities for all as our countries strive to become more perfect unions and meet our shared destiny.  

The leaders commended the progress that has made the US-India Major Defense Partnership, a pillar of global security and peace, highlighting the benefits of increased operational coordination, information-sharing, and defense industrial innovation. President Biden and Prime Minister Modi expressed unrelenting optimism and utmost confidence that the tireless efforts of our peoples, our civic and private sectors, and our governments to forge deeper bonds have set the US-India partnership on a path toward even greater heights in the decades ahead.
 
The leaders reaffirmed their support for the freedom of navigation and the protection of commerce, including critical maritime routes in the Middle East where India will assume co-lead in 2025 of the Combined Task Force 150 to work with Combined Maritime Forces to secure sea lanes in the Arabian Sea. President Biden shared with Prime Minister Modi that the United States supports initiatives to reform global institutions to reflect India’s important voice, including permanent membership for India in a reformed U.N. Security Council. 

President Biden and PM Modi applauded the success of the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) in deepening and expanding strategic cooperation across key technology sectors, including space, semiconductors, and advanced telecommunications. Both leaders committed to enhance regular engagements to improve the momentum of collaboration in fields such as artificial intelligence, quantum, biotechnology, and clean energy. 

They highlighted ongoing efforts to strengthen collaboration with like-minded partners, including through the Quad and a US-India-ROK Trilateral Technology initiative launched earlier this year to build more secure and resilient supply chains for critical industries and ensure we collectively remain at the leading edge of innovation.  The leaders directed their governments to redouble efforts to address export controls, enhance high technology commerce, and reduce barriers to technology transfer between our two countries, while addressing technology security, including through the India-US Strategic Trade Dialogue.  

Leaders also endorsed new mechanisms for deeper cyberspace cooperation through the bilateral cybersecurity dialogue. The Leaders recommitted to expand the manufacturing and deployment of clean energy, including finding opportunities to expand U.S.-India cooperation in solar, wind and nuclear energy and the development of small modular reactor technologies.
 
Charting technology partnership for future
President Biden and PM Modi hailed a watershed arrangement to establish a new semiconductor fabrication plant focused on advanced sensing, communication, and power electronics for national security, next generation telecommunications, and green energy applications. 

The semiconductor fab, which will be established with the objective of manufacturing infrared, GaN and SiC semiconductors, will be enabled by support from the India Semiconductor Mission, as well as a strategic technology partnership between Bharat Semi, 3rdiTech, and the US Space Force.

The leaders praised combined efforts to facilitate resilient, secure, and sustainable semiconductor supply chains including through GlobalFoundries’ (GF) creation of the GF Kolkata Power Center in Kolkata, India that will enhance mutually beneficial linkages in research and development in chip manufacturing and enable game-changing advances for zero and low emission as well as connected vehicles, internet of things devices, AI, and data centers. 

They noted GF’s plans to explore longer term, cross-border manufacturing and technology partnerships with India which will deliver high-quality jobs in both of our countries.  They also celebrated the new strategic partnership between the U.S. Department of State and the India Semiconductor Mission, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in connection with the International Technology Security and Innovation (ITSI) Fund. 

The leaders welcomed steps our industry is taking to build safe, secure, and resilient supply chains for U.S., Indian, and international automotive markets, including through Ford Motor Company’s submission of a Letter of Intent to utilize its Chennai plant to manufacture for export to global markets.  

The leaders welcomed progress toward the first joint effort by NASA and ISRO to conduct scientific research onboard the International Space Station in 2025. They appreciated the initiatives and exchange of ideas under the Civil Space Joint Working Group and expressed hope that its next meeting in early 2025 will open additional avenues of cooperation.  

They pledged to pursue opportunities to deepen joint innovation and strategic collaborations, including by exploring new platforms in civil and commercial space domains.  

The leaders also welcomed efforts to enhance collaboration between our research and development ecosystems. They plan to mobilize up to $90+ million in U.S. and Indian government funding over the next five years for the U.S.-India Global Challenges Institute to support high-impact R&D partnerships between U.S. and Indian universities and research institutions, including through identifying options to implement the Statement of Intent signed at the June 2024 iCET meeting.  

The leaders also welcomed the launch of a new U.S.-India Advanced Materials R&D Forum to expand collaboration between American and Indian universities, national laboratories, and private sector researchers.

The leaders announced the selection of 11 funding awards between the National Science Foundation and India’s Department of Science and Technology, supported by a combined $5+ million grant to enable joint U.S.-India research projects in areas such as next-generation telecommunications, connected vehicles, machine learning.  

The leaders announced the award of 12 funding awards under the National Science Foundation and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, research collaboration with a combined outlay of nearly $10 million to enable joint U.S.-India basic and applied research in the areas of semiconductors, next generation communication systems, sustainability & green technologies and intelligent transportation systems.  

Furthermore, NSF and MeitY are exploring new opportunities for research collaboration to enhance and synergize the basic and applied research ecosystem on both sides.

The leaders celebrated that India’s Department of Biotechnology (DBT) along with National Science Foundation of the United States announced the first joint call for collaborative research projects in February 2024 to address complex scientific challenges and innovate novel solutions that leverage advances in synthetic and engineering biology, systems and computational biology, and other associated fields that are foundational to developing future biomanufacturing solutions and advance the bioeconomy. Under the first call for proposals, joint research teams responded enthusiastically and results are likely to be announced by the end of 2024.

The leaders also highlighted additional cooperation we are building across artificial intelligence (AI), quantum, and other critical technology areas. They highlighted the second convening of the US-India Quantum Coordination Mechanism in Washington in August and welcomed the announcement of seventeen new awards for binational R&D cooperation on artificial intelligence and quantum via the U.S.-India Science and Technology Endowment Fund (IUSSTF).  

They welcomed new private sector cooperation on emerging technologies, such as through IBM’s recent conclusion of memoranda of understanding with the Government of India, which will enable IBM’s watsonx platform on India’s Airawat supercomputer and drive new AI innovation opportunities, enhance R&D collaboration on advanced semiconductor processors, and increase support for India’s National Quantum Mission. 

The leaders commended ongoing efforts to build more expansive cooperation around 5G deployment and next-generation telecommunications; this includes the U.S. Agency for International Development’s plans to expand the Asia Open RAN Academy with an initial $7 million investment to grow this workforce training initiative worldwide, including in South Asia with Indian institutions.

Powering next generation defense partnership
President Biden welcomed the progress towards India concluding procurement of 31 General Atomics MQ-9B (16 Sky Guardian and 15 Sea Guardian) remotely piloted aircraft and their associated equipment, which will enhance the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities of India’s armed forces across all domains. 

The leaders recognized the remarkable progress under the U.S.-India Defense Industrial Cooperation Roadmap, including ongoing collaboration to advance priority co-production arrangements for jet engines, munitions, and ground mobility systems.  They also welcomed efforts to expand defense industrial partnerships, including the teaming of Liquid Robotics and Sagar Defence Engineering for the co-development and co-production of unmanned surface vehicle systems that strengthen undersea and maritime domain awareness. 

The leaders applauded the recent conclusion of the Security of Supply Arrangement (SOSA), enhancing the mutual supply of defense goods and services. Both Leaders committed to advance ongoing discussions on aligning their respective defense procurement systems to further enable the reciprocal supply of defense goods and services.

President Biden welcomed India’s decision to set a uniform Goods and Services Tax (GST) of 5% on the maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) sector, including on all aircraft and aircraft engine parts, thereby simplifying the tax structure and paving the way for building a strong ecosystem for MRO services in India. The leaders also encouraged the industry to foster collaboration and drive innovation to support India’s efforts to become a leading aviation hub.  

The leaders welcomed commitments from U.S. industry to further increase India’s MRO capabilities, including for the repair of aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles.

The leaders hailed the teaming agreement on the C-130J Super Hercules aircraft recently signed between Lockheed Martin and Tata Advanced Systems Limited, the two companies that co-chair the U.S.-India CEO Forum.  Building on longstanding industry cooperation, this agreement will establish a new Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in India to support the readiness of the Indian fleet and global partners who operate the C-130 Super Hercules aircraft.  This marks a significant step in U.S.-India defense and aerospace cooperation and reflects the two sides’ deepening strategic and technology partnership ties.

The leaders lauded the growing defense innovation collaboration between our governments, businesses, and academic institutions fostered by the India-U.S. Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X) initiative launched in 2023, and noted progress achieved during the third INDUS-X Summit in Silicon Valley earlier this month. 

They welcomed the enhanced collaboration between the Indian Ministry of Defence’s Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) and US Department of Defence’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) through the Memorandum of Understanding signed at the Silicon Valley Summit. The efforts via the INDUSWERX consortium to facilitate pathways for defense and dual-use companies in the INDUS-X network to access premier testing ranges in both countries, were appreciated.

The leaders also recognized the clear fulfillment of the shared goal to build a defense innovation bridge under INDUS-X through the launch of “joint challenges” designed by the U.S. DoD’S DIU and the Indian MoD’s Defence Innovation Organization (DIO).  In 2024, our governments have separately awarded $1+ million to U.S. and Indian companies that developed technologies focused on undersea communications and maritime intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR).  Building on this success, a new challenge was announced at the most recent INDUS-X Summit that focused on Space Situational Awareness (SSA) in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO).  

The leaders welcomed ongoing efforts to deepen our military partnership and interoperability to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific, noting that India hosted our most complex, largest bilateral, tri-service exercise to date during the March 2024 TIGER TRIUMPH exercise.  They also welcomed the inclusion of new technologies and capabilities, including a first-ever demonstration of the Javelin and Stryker systems in India, on the margins of the ongoing bilateral Army YUDH ABHYAS exercise. 

The leaders welcomed the conclusion of the Memorandum of Agreement regarding the Deployment of Liaison Officers, and the commencement of deployment process of the first Liaison Officer from India in US Special Operations Command (SOCOM).

The leaders commended work to advance cooperation in advanced domains, including space and cyber, and looked forward towards the November 2024 bilateral cyber engagement to enhance the U.S.-India cyber cooperation framework. Areas of new cooperation will include threat information sharing, cybersecurity training, and collaboration on vulnerability mitigation in energy and telecommunications networks. The Leaders also noted the second U.S.-India Advanced Domains Defense Dialogue in May 2024, which included the first-ever bilateral defense space table-top exercise. 

Catalyzing clean energy transition
President Biden and PM Modi welcomed the US-India Roadmap to Build Safe and Secure Global Clean Energy Supply Chains, which launched a new initiative to accelerate the expansion of safe and secure clean energy supply chains through U.S. and Indian manufacturing of clean energy technologies and components.  

In its initial phase, the USA and India would work together to unlock $1 billion of multilateral financing to support projects across the clean energy value chain for renewable energy, energy storage, power grid and transmission technologies, high efficiency cooling systems, zero emission vehicles, and other emerging clean technologies.

The leaders also highlighted the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC)’s partnership with India’s private sector to expand clean energy manufacturing and diversify supply chains.  To date, DFC has extended a $250 million loan to Tata Power Solar to construct a solar cell manufacturing facility and a $500 million loan to First Solar to construct and operate a solar module manufacturing facility in India.

The leaders lauded the strong collaboration under the Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (SCEP), most recently convened on September 16, 2024 in Washington DC to strengthen energy security, create opportunities for clean energy innovation, address climate change and create employment generation opportunities, including through capacity building, and collaboration between industry and R&D.

The leaders welcomed collaboration on a new National Center for Hydrogen Safety in India and affirmed their intent to utilize the new Renewable Energy Technology Action Platform (RETAP) to enhance collaboration on clean energy manufacturing and global supply chains, including through public-private task forces on hydrogen and energy storage.

The leaders also announced a new Memorandum of Cooperation between the U.S. Agency for International Development and the International Solar Alliance aimed at promoting more responsive and sustainable power systems that leverage diverse renewable energy sources. 

The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to accelerate the development of diverse and sustainable supply chains for critical minerals under the Minerals Security Partnership targeting strategic projects along the value chain.  They looked forward to signing of the Critical Minerals Memorandum of Understanding at the forthcoming U.S.-India Commercial Dialogue, and pledged to hasten bilateral collaboration to secure resilient critical minerals supply chains through enhanced technical assistance and greater commercial cooperation.

The leaders welcomed the progress made on joint efforts since 2023 for India to work toward IEA membership in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement on an International Energy Program.

The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to accelerating the manufacturing and deployment of renewable energy, battery storage and emerging clean technology in India. They welcomed the ongoing progress between India’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation to provide up to $500 million each to anchor the Green Transition Fund as well as encourage private sector investors to match these efforts. Both sides look forward to the expeditious operationalization of the Green Transition Fund.

Empowering future generations, promoting global health and development
The leaders welcomed India’s signature and ratification of the Agreements under Pillar III, Pillar IV and the overarching Agreement on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF). The leaders underscored that IPEF seeks to advance resilience, sustainability, inclusiveness, economic growth, fairness, and competitiveness of the economies of its signatories. They noted the economic diversity of the 14 IPEF partners that represents 40 percent of global GDP and 28 percent of global goods and services trade.

President Biden and PM Modi celebrated the new US-India Drug Policy Framework for the 21st Century and its accompanying Memorandum of Understanding, which will deepen collaboration to disrupt the illicit production and international trafficking of synthetic drugs and precursor chemicals, and deepen a holistic public health partnership. 

The two leaders signaled their commitment to the objectives of the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drugs Threats and work towards combatting the threat of synthetic drugs and their precursors through mutually agreed initiatives to promote public health through coordinated actions.

The leaders applauded the first-ever U.S.-India Cancer Dialogue held in August 2024, which brought together experts from both countries to increase research and development to accelerate the rate of progress against cancer.  The leaders applauded the recently launched Bio5 partnership between the United States, India, ROK, Japan, and the EU, driving closer cooperation on pharmaceutical supply chains.  

The leaders applauded the Development Finance Corporation’s $50 million loan to Indian company Panacea Biotech to manufacture hexavalent (six-in-one) vaccines for children, reaffirming our joint commitment to advance shared global health priorities, including bolstering support for primary healthcare.

The leaders welcomed the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Small Business Administration for promoting cooperation between U.S. and Indian small and medium-size enterprises by improving their participation in the global market place through capacity building workshops in areas such as trade and export finance, technology and digital trade, green economy and trade facilitation. 

The MoU also provides for the joint conduct of programs for women entrepreneurs to empower them and facilitate trade partnership between women-owned small businesses of the two countries.  The leaders celebrated that, since the June 2023 State visit, the Development Finance Corporation has invested $177 million across eight projects to support Indian small businesses and drive economic growth.

The leaders welcomed enhanced cooperation on agriculture between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and India’s Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, in areas such as climate-smart agriculture, agriculture productivity growth, agriculture innovation, and sharing best practices related to crop risk protection and agriculture credit. The two sides will also enhance cooperation with the private sector through discussions on regulatory issues and innovation to enhance bilateral trade.

The leaders welcomed the formal launch of the new U.S.-India Global Digital Development Partnership, which aims to bring together U.S. and Indian private sector companies, technology and resources to deploy the responsible use of emerging digital technologies in Asia and Africa.

The leaders welcomed strengthened trilateral cooperation with Tanzania through the Triangular Development Partnership, led by the U.S. Agency for International Development and India’s Development Partnership Administration to jointly address global development challenges and foster prosperity in the Indo-Pacific. The partnership focuses on advancing renewable energy projects, including solar energy, to enhance energy infrastructure and access in Tanzania, thereby bolstering energy cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.  

They also desired to explore the expansion of the triangular development partnership in areas of health cooperation, particularly for critical technical areas of mutual interest including digital health and capacity building of nurses and other frontline health workers.

The leaders acknowledged the July 2024 signing of a bilateral Cultural Property Agreement that will facilitate implementation of the 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export, and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. 

The agreement marked the culmination of years of diligent work by experts from both countries and fulfills President Biden’s and Prime Minister Modi’s commitment to enhance cooperation to protect cultural heritage highlighted in the joint statement when they met in June 2023. In this context, the leaders welcomed the repatriation of 297 Indian antiquities from the U.S. to India in 2024.

The leaders look forward to building on India’s ambitious G20 presidency to deliver on shared priorities for the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Rio de Janeiro, including: bigger, better, and more effective MDBs, including by following through on Leaders’ pledges in New Delhi to boost the World Bank’s capacity to help developing countries address global challenges, while recognizing the imperative of achieving the sustainable development goals; a more predictable, orderly, timely and coordinated sovereign debt restructuring process; and a pathway to growth for high-ambition developing countries that are facing financing challenges amid mounting debt burdens by increasing access to finance and unlocking fiscal space taking into account country specific circumstances.