Strengthening Semiconductor Supply Chains: Micron Technology, Inc. – with support from the India Semiconductor Mission – will invest more than $800 million toward a new $2.75 billion semiconductor assembly and test facility in India.

Washington (ABC Live): The Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi is on his four days State Visit of the United States of America.  

Today, 22/03/2023, after official bilateral meeting the White house has issued a FACT SHEET: Republic of India Official State Visit to the United States which described the out of this state visit for both the nations.

The Fact sheet released by the White House says, “1.  A Technology Partnership for the Future:

Strengthening Semiconductor Supply Chains:  Micron Technology, Inc. – with support from the India Semiconductor Mission – will invest more than $800 million toward a new $2.75 billion semiconductor assembly and test facility in India.  Applied Materials has announced it will build a Semiconductor Centre for Commercialization and Innovation in India to further strengthen our nations’ semiconductor supply chain diversification. And, Lam Research will train 60,000 Indian engineers through its “Semiverse Solution” to accelerate India’s semiconductor education and workforce development goals.  The U.S. Semiconductor Industry Association and India Electronics Semiconductor Association released an interim readiness assessment to identify near-term industry opportunities and facilitate the long-term strategic development of complementary semiconductor ecosystems. 

Critical Minerals Partnership:  The United States welcomes India as the newest partner of the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP), established to accelerate the development of diverse and sustainable critical energy minerals supply chains globally through targeted financial and diplomatic support of strategic projects along the value chain.  India will join 12 other partner countries, plus the European Union, in advancing our common objectives of diversifying and securing our critical mineral supply chains. The MSP was started in June 2022 with the expressed goals of exchanging information on critical mineral sector opportunities to enable diversified private sector investment and catalyze public sector financing, while adhering to high environmental, social, and governance standards to advance sustainable economic development opportunities.  India’s Epsilon Carbon Limited will be investing $650 million in a greenfield electric vehicle battery component factory, hiring over 500 employees over the course of five years. When approved, this synthetic graphite anode processing facility will be the largest Indian investment in the U.S. electric vehicle battery industry in American history. 

Advanced Telecommunications:  India and the United States launched public-private Joint Task Forces, one on the development and deployment of Open RAN systems and one on advanced telecoms research and development.  India’s Bharat 6G and the U.S. Next G Alliance will co-lead this public-private research.  This work will reduce costs, increase security, and improve resiliency of telecommunication networks.  With financing from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, and in partnership with USAID, India and the United States are also teaming up to launch Open RAN deployments in both countries to demonstrate the scalability of this technology to enhance its competitiveness in international markets.  The leaders also welcomed participation of Indian companies in the U.S. Rip and Replace Program. 

New Frontiers in Space:  India has signed the Artemis Accords, which advance a common vision of space exploration for the benefit of all humankind.  India joins 26 other countries committed to peaceful, sustainable, and transparent cooperation that will enable exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond.  NASA will provide advanced training to Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) astronauts with the goal of launching a joint effort to the International Space Station in 2024. Additionally, NASA and the ISRO are developing a strategic framework for human spaceflight cooperation by the end of 2023.  India approved a $318 million investment to construct a Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory in India—that will work in tandem with similar facilities in the United States, Europe, and Japan to look for ripples in space-time, known as gravitational waves, that provide insights into the physical origins of the universe.  Scientific payloads for the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) have been delivered to India and will be launched in 2024, and will measure Earth’s changing ecosystems like natural hazards and sea level rise.  The US Geological Survey and ISROare negotiating expanded bilateral data exchange that will enable greater insight about the earth, including for a range of applications, such as climate resiliency, sustainable development and management of natural resources, and disaster management support.

Quantum, Advanced Computing, and Artificial Intelligence:  India and the United States have established a Joint Indo-U.S. Quantum Coordination Mechanism to facilitate joint research between the public and private sectors across both our countries. The United States also welcomed India’s participation in both the Quantum Entanglement Exchange and the Quantum Economic Development Consortium, which facilitates exchanges on quantum between nations. Additionally, India and the United States signed an implanting arrangement to further support joint research on quantum, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and advanced wireless technologies—building off of the U.S.-India Science and Technology Endowment Fund’s $2 million grant for the joint development and commercialization of Artificial Intelligence and quantum technologies. Through its AI Research Center in Bengaluru, Google is building models to support over 100 Indian languages, and working with the Indian Institute of Science to support open sourcing of speech data for AI models.  It has also partnered with IIT Madras to establish a multidisciplinary Center for Responsible AI.

Cutting-edge Research:  The U.S. National Science Foundation announced 35 joint research collaborations with the Indian Department of Science and Technology and also signed a new cooperative arrangement with the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on emerging technologies.  India’s Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) is making a $140 million in-kind contribution to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Fermi National Laboratory toward collaborative development of the Proton Improvement Plan-II Accelerator, for the Long Baseline Neutrino Facility – the first and largest international research facility on U.S. soil. 

Innovation Handshake:  To support the U.S.-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET), the U.S.-India Commercial Dialogue will launch a new “Innovation Handshake” to connect each country’s start-up ecosystems. This program will address regulatory hurdles to cooperation, promote job growth in emerging technologies, and highlight opportunities for hi-tech upskilling. 

Fiber Optics Investments:  India’s Sterlite Technologies Limited has invested $100 million in the construction of an optical fiber cable manufacturing unit near Columbia, South Carolina, which will facilitate $150 million in annual exports of optical fiber from India.

2. Next-Generation Defense Partnership:

GE F414 Engine Co-Production:  The United States and India welcome a groundbreaking proposal by General Electric (GE) to jointly produce the F414 Jet Engine in India.  GE and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited have signed a MoU, and a manufacturing license agreement has been submitted for Congressional Notification.  This trailblazing initiative to manufacture F-414 engines in India—the first of its kind—will enable greater transfer of U.S. jet engine technology than ever before. 

General Atomics MQ-9Bs:   India intends to procure armed MQ-9B SeaGuardian UAVs. This advanced technology will increase India’s intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities.

New Sustainment and Ship Repair: The United States Navy has concluded a Master Ship Repair Agreement (MSRA) with Larsen and Toubro Shipyard in Kattupalli  (Chennai) and is finalizing agreements with Mazagon Dock Limited (Mumbai) and Goa Shipyard (Goa).  These agreements will allow mid-voyage U.S. Navy ships to undergo service and repair at Indian shipyards, facilitating cost-effective and time-saving sustainment activites for U.S. military operations across multiple theaters.

More Robust Defense Cooperation:   The United States and India advanced steps to operationalize tools that will allow us to increase our defense cooperation.  The United States and India resolved to strengthen undersea domain awareness cooperation.  The agreement to place three Indian liaison officers in U.S. commands for the first time– deepening our partnership and critical information sharing.  The United States and India have also commenced negotiations for a Security of Supply Arrangement and Reciprocal Defense Procurement Arrangement that will enable the supply of defense goods in the event of unanticipated supply chain disruptions.   The United States and India finalized a Defense Industrial Cooperation Roadmap that provides policy direction to defense industries and enables co-production of advanced defense systems as well as collaborative research, testing, and prototyping of the technologies that will determine the future of military power.

Defense “Innovation Bridge”:  The India-U.S. Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X)—a network of university, incubator, corporate, think tank, and private investment stakeholders—was inaugurated on June 21, 2023.  This innovative program will facilitate joint innovation on defense technologies and accelerate the integration of India’s budding private sector defense industry with the U.S. defense sector. 

Defense Industrial Cooperation Roadmap:  A new defense industrial cooperation roadmap will provide policy direction to defense industries to enable and accelerate the co-production of advanced defense systems as well as collaborative research, testing, and prototyping of the technologies that will determine the future of military power.

3.  Shared Prosperity and Delivering for our Peoples:

Domestic Visa Renewals:  The U.S. Department of State will launch a pilot this year to adjudicate domestic renewals of certain petition-based temporary work visas, including for Indian nationals, who will no longer be required to leave the country for renewal in eligible categories.  The Department of State will implement this for an expanded pool of H1B and L visa holders in 2024, with the aim of broadening the program to include other eligible categories.

New Consulates:  The United States intends to open new consulates in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.  India looks forward to opening its consulate in Seattle later this year, and to announcing two new consulates in the United States. 

Student Exchanges and Scholarships:  The United States last year issued 125,000 visas to Indian students, a record.  Indian students are on pace to become the largest foreign student community in the United States, with a 20 percent increase last year alone.  India and the United States have launched a new Joint Task Force of the Association of American Universities and leading Indian educational institutions, including the Indian Institutes of Technology.  Councils on each side have prepared interim recommendations for expanding research and university partnerships between the two countries.  Additional Fulbright-Kalam Climate Fellowships for research, administered by the U.S.-India Educational Fund, will advance cooperation between leading scholars in India and the United States on climate change.  The United States is enabling up to 100 additional U.S. undergraduate students to study or intern in India via the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program. New funding for Department of State Study Abroad Engagement Grants will extend new study abroad engagement grant funding to bolster Indian academic institutions’ capacity to develop study abroad programming with U.S. colleges and universities.  India is also funding the establishment of a Tamil Studies Chair at the University of Houston and welcomes the appointment to the Vivekananda Visiting Professorship at the University of Chicago. 

University Research Partnerships:  Leveraging the talent and ambition of both our countries, India and the United States welcomed the launch of a university network of Indo-U.S. Global Challenge Institutes, which will help create more research partnerships and exchanges in agriculture, energy, health, and technology. 

Cultural Property: The United States and India are continuing negotiations for a Cultural Property Agreement which would help to prevent illegal trafficking of cultural property from India and enhance cooperation on the protection and lawful exchange of cultural property.

Historic Aviation Deals:  Air India’s historic agreement with Boeing to acquire more than 200 American-made aircraft, announced in February 2023, will support more than one million American jobs across 44 states and contribute to the modernization of the civil aviation sector in India, which is among the fastest growing in the world.  Boeing has announced a $100 million investment in infrastructure and programs to train pilots in India, which will support India’s need for 31,000 new pilots over the next 20 years.  Additionally, Boeing has completed a C-17 aftermarket support facility and a new parts logistics center in India that allows the country to become a regional maintenance hub. 

Resolving Trade Issues Through Trust:  The United States and India have also taken steps toward deepening bilateral cooperation to strengthen our economic relationship, including trade ties. Underscoring the willingness and trust of both countries in resolving trade issues, the leaders welcomed the resolution of six outstanding WTO disputes between the two countries through mutually agreed solutions as well as their understandings on market access related to certain products of significance to the bilateral trade relationship.

4.  Leading on the Global Stage:

Indo-Pacific:  The United States will join the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative, a regional initiative inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi in 2015 to promote a safe, secure, and stable maritime domain and promote its conservation and sustainable use. India will continue to participate as an observer in the Partners in the Blue Pacific. 

Indian Ocean:  The United States and India will hold an Indian Ocean Dialogue that convenes U.S. and Indian officials, with experts and stakeholders from across the Indian Ocean region to promote greater regional coordination.  

Global Cooperation:  Welcoming its relaunch in December 2022, the United States and India intend to hold another Global Issues Forum meeting this year to collaborate on global challenges such as human trafficking, food insecurity, and humanitarian disaster relief.  

Enhancing India’s Role in Global Governance:  The United States reiterates its support for India’s permanent membership in a reformed UNSC, has announced support for Indian membership in the International Energy Agency, recommits to advancing Indian membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group, and President Biden has invited Prime Minister Modi to attend the APEC Summit in San Francisco in November 2023.

Digital Partnership:  The United States and India will develop a U.S.-India Global Digital Development Partnership that will bring together technology and resources from both countries to address development challenges in emerging economies.

“Triangular” Cooperation Partnership:  The U.S. Agency for International Development and Ministry of External Affairs of India are working together to train health care experts from Fiji in India in the third quarter of 2023 to share knowledge and best practices on post-disaster psycho-social and telemedicine services.

5.  Partnership for Sustainable Development and Global Health:

Energy collaboration:  India and the United States will continue to work together to achieve our respective national climate and energy goals under India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission and the United States’ Hydrogen Earth Shot.  The United States welcomes India’s decision to co-lead the multilateral Hydrogen Breakthrough Agenda to make affordable renewable and low carbon hydrogen globally available by 2030.   

Investing in America’s Clean Energy Infrastructure:  India’s VSK Energy LLC will invest up to $1.5 billion to develop a new, vertically integrated solar panel manufacturing operation in the United States, including a 2.0 GW module-and-cell manufacturing plant in Colorado.  And, India’s JSW Steel USA announced a $120 million investment at its Mingo Junction, Ohio, steel plant to better support market demand for offshore wind labs.

Investment Platforms for Green Technology:  India and the United States committed to creating innovative investment platforms that will lower the cost of capital and attract international private finance at scale for renewable energy, battery storage, and emerging green technology projects in India. This first of its kind platform will create a multibillion-dollar fund aimed at providing catalytic capital and de-risking support for such projects. 

Decarbonizing our Transportation Sector:  USAID signed an MOU with the Ministry of Railways to work together on Indian Railways’ target to become a “net-zero” carbon emitter by 2030.  The United States and India also announced plans to create a payment security mechanism that will facilitate the deployment of 10,000 made-in-India electric buses in India, augmenting India’s focused efforts in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving public health, and diversifying the global supply chain.

Biofuels Initiative:  The Global Biofuels Alliance, established by India with the United States as a founding member, will facilitate cooperation in accelerating the use of biofuels.

Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure Education Initiative:  USAID has committed up to $5 million toward the Infrastructure Resilience Academic Exchange (IRAX) to offer education, research opportunities, and professional development on disaster resilient architecture and develop a global network of academic institutions.  IRAX will facilitate new partnerships between American and Indian institutions of higher education across the world.

Accelerating the Fight Against Cancer and Diabetes:  The U.S. National Cancer Institute will foster collaboration between U.S. and Indian scientists through two new grants to develop an artificial-intelligence (AI)-enabled digital pathology platform. This platform will be utilized for cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and prediction of therapeutic benefit, as well as AI-based automated radiotherapy treatment for cancers of the cervix, head, and neck. The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases will also sign an agreement with the Indian Council of Medical Research to further basic, clinical, and translational research on diabetes. The United States and India will hold a U.S.-India Cancer Dialogue, hosted by President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot, to bring experts together from both countries to identify concrete areas of collaboration to accelerate the rate of progress against cancer. 

Counternarcotics Cooperation:  The United States and India are developing a broader and deeper bilateral counternarcotics framework to disrupt the illicit production and international trafficking of illicit drugs, including synthetic drugs, fentanyl, and precursors, and will showcase a secure, resilient, reliable and growing pharmaceutical supply chain as a model for the world.”

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