U.S., India partnership targets arms and AI to compete with China

The White House is
launching a partnership with India on Tuesday that President
Joe Biden hopes will help the countries compete against China on
military equipment, semiconductors and artificial intelligence.
Washington wants to deploy more Western mobile phone
networks in the subcontinent to counter China’s Huawei
Technologies, to welcome more Indian computer chip specialists
to the United States and to encourage companies from both
countries to collaborate on military equipment like artillery
systems.
The White House faces an uphill battle on each front,
including U.S. restrictions on military technology transfer and
visas for immigrant workers, along with India’s longstanding
dependence on Moscow for military hardware.
Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and his
Indian counterpart, Ajit Doval, are meeting with senior
officials from both countries at the White House on Tuesday to
launch the U.S.-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging
Technologies.
“The larger challenge posed by China – its economic
practices, its aggressive military moves, its efforts to
dominate the industries of the future and to control the supply
chains of the future have had a profound impact on the thinking
in Delhi,” said Sullivan.
New Delhi has frustrated Washington by participating in
military exercises with Russia and increasing purchases of the
country’s crude oil, a key source of funding for Russia’s war in
Ukraine. But Washington has held its tongue, nudging the country
on Russia while condoning India’s more hawkish stance on China.
On Monday, Sullivan and Doval participated in a Chamber of
Commerce event with corporate leaders from Lockheed Martin Corp,
Adani Enterprises and Applied Materials Inc.
While India is part of the Biden administration’s signature
Asian engagement project Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF),
it has opted against joining the IPEF trade pillar negotiations.
The initiative also includes a joint effort on space and
high-performance quantum computing.
General Electric Co, meanwhile, is asking the U.S.
government for permission to produce jet engines with India that
would power aircraft operated and produced by India, according
to the White House, which says a review is underway.