India seeks to boost tech pact with US amid fears over Trump’s potential clawback

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is in India to further bilateral cooperation in semiconductors, AI, space and other areas

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India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets then-US President Donald Trump at Hyderabad House in New Delhi in 2020. Photo: AFP

Published: 5:00pm, 6 Jan 2025

As Washington’s top security official wraps up a visit to New Delhi aimed at strengthening a key tech partnership with India, analysts say there are concerns that US president-elect Donald Trump might undermine the pact, seen as crucial to countering China’s rapid advancements.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan’s trip, which ends on Monday, is expected to reinforce the India-US Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET). Focused on semiconductor production and artificial intelligence (AI) development, the 2022 framework forms the basis of several bilateral deals including for US-based General Electric and India’s state-run Hindustan Aeronautics to jointly produce fighter jet engines.

Sullivan’s visit included meetings with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval on Sunday and Monday.

Washington and its Western allies have long viewed India as a counterweight against China’s rising influence in Asia and beyond. Relations between India and the US have grown particularly stronger under President Joe Biden’s administration.

Analysts say there is uncertainty over whether the incoming administration will show the same commitment to developing the technological partnership since Trump has aired concerns about sharing sophisticated US technology with other countries.

“What [Sullivan] might be trying to do is to ensure whether those [political] developments can be made resistant to any dramatic changes from the Trump administration. It will certainly be very important for India,” said Harsh Pant, an international relations professor at Kings College London.