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Jake Sullivan is expected to meet the top Indian leadership and hold crucial talks with India’s NSA Ajit Doval about various aspects of the India-US strategic partnership, including defence, security, and technology cooperation
NSA Jake Sullivan will also discuss the impact of Chinese dams on Tibet. (PTI)
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan’s India visit must be seen in a “positive direction”, with a series of constructive announcements expected from the United States, top government sources have told CNN-News18.
Sullivan is expected to meet the top Indian leadership and hold crucial talks with India’s NSA Ajit Doval. They will likely discuss various aspects of the India-US strategic partnership, including defence, security, and technology cooperation, the sources added.
Sullivan’s trip comes days after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar concluded a six-day visit to the US.
One of the key areas of focus will be the US-India Initiative for Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET). This is aimed to increase cooperation in areas like Artificial Intelligence, quantum computing, semiconductors, and space.
The iCET was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Biden in May 2022 with an aim to forge greater collaboration between the two countries in areas of critical technologies.
Sullivan and Doval have been jointly leading the initiative and the aim is to continue this under the new Donald Trump administration. The inauguration of Trump as the 47th president of the US will take place on January 20. Sullivan last visited India in June 2024.
Sullivan’s visit will also discuss the impact of Chinese dams on Tibet. The discussions will focus on the implications of Chinese dams, particularly the hydropower dam being built on the Yarlung Zangbo River in Tibet, which flows into India. India has expressed concerns to China about the potential water supply impact of this dam.
Washington and its Western allies have long viewed India as a counter to China’s rising influence in Asia and beyond.
“We’ve certainly seen in many places in the Indo-Pacific that upstream dams that the Chinese have created, including in the Mekong region, can have really potentially damaging environmental but also climate impacts on downstream countries,” a senior US official had said ahead of Sullivan’s visit.
Civilian Nuclear Cooperation is also on the agenda, sources said, apart from a discussion on military licensing and Chinese economic overcapacity.
Washington and New Delhi have built close ties in recent years with occasional differences over issues like minority abuse in India, New Delhi’s ties with Russia amid Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and alleged assassination plots against Sikh separatists on US and Canadian soil.
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