WASHINGTON: Outgoing US national security adviser Jake Sullivan will travel to India on January 5-6 to meet his counterpart Ajit K Doval and other senior government officials for a final round of talks with them on a wide range of bilateral, regional and global issues and to finalize some ongoing initiatives .
Sullivan, 48, the youngest national security advisor when President Joe Biden appointed him on January 20, 2021, would also deliver a major India-focused foreign policy speech at IIT New Delhi during his final trip to India before leaving office. He would be succeeded by Congressman Michael Waltz on January 20, when Donald J. Trump would be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States.
While there, the primary focus will be a culminating engagement and dialogue with his counterpart, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, a senior administration official told reporters during a conference call Friday afternoon.
It will cover a variety of topics across our partnership, but with a specific focus on the strategic technological cooperation we have had in a variety of domains, from defense to space and artificial intelligence, the official added.
“The two national security advisors during this engagement will not only take stock of the progress we have made over the past four years, which has also been a historic and transformative period in this relationship, but will also continue to finalize some ongoing initiatives that were important priorities that we must conclude to continue our technological cooperation until the end of the administration and identify new opportunities that we hope with an upcoming team will continue to advance,” said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
From the views of the biden administrationNot only has the US-India relationship been one of the bright spots and a true foreign policy priority and legacy area of achievement for the Biden administration, but it is also a relationship in which they have seen continued bipartisan support and a push from one administration to another. in the United States, the official said.
Sullivan will deliver a speech at IIT Delhi, emphasizing how India is critical not only to US priorities in the Indo-Pacific but globally.
“We see this as a partnership that’s not really subject to major partisan swings in the United States, but has had a really long-standing base of support that we hope continues to move forward,” the official said.
During the visit, he will also meet External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar as well as other Indian leaders. The US delegation led by Sullivan will also include members from other government departments.
“While we are there, we will have the opportunity to meet with business leaders and young entrepreneurs from India, and really emphasize how much the progress we have made in this relationship under the Biden administration is not just due to the work that has been done at the level of “government to government, but I think more and more, because of the fantastic, strong relationships that exist on a people-to-people, business-to-business level, between the United States and India,” the official said.
“Overall, the message we intend to leave at the end of this trip is one of true gratitude for the friendship and close collaboration that President Biden and Prime Minister Modi have enjoyed over the past four years, but also tremendous optimism. Because we see a lot of opportunities in the future for the things that we’ve started with in the last four years, whether it’s commercial space cooperation, looking for opportunities in the future for civil nuclear cooperation, more cooperation in green energy technology.
“We think all of these are really poised for exponential growth going forward. We’re really proud that the Biden administration has laid such a solid foundation and made further growth possible,” the official said.
A second senior administration official told reporters that for this particular trip, Sullivan will address several issues.
First, the civil nuclear partnership can move forward by seeking ways to promote cooperation around small modular reactor technology and other forms of civil nuclear cooperation.
Second, addressing PRC overcapacity, whether talking about legacy chips or biopharmaceutical supply chains, and also aligning strategies on ICT risks and cyber-focused technology protection measures, whether talking about connected vehicles or the recently announced research on Chinese drones.
Third, debates over artificial intelligence and national security following the conclusion of its own national security memorandum on AI and other regulations.
Fourth, promote new commercial space cooperation as the United States finalizes amendments to its own Missile Technology Control Regime for licensing policies.
Fifth, unlock funds for US-India R&D partnerships under the university-based local challenges institute, the second official said.