Wednesday, October 9, 2024

PM Modi meets Biden: From setting up of semiconductor plant to shoring up drone deal, here’s what happened

Date:


Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Quad Summit at the latter’s Wilmington, Delaware home on Saturday (Sep 21). A US-India joint statement highlighted key areas of cooperation, including defence, economic, clean energy, global health, and development.

Among the important topics, the two leaders discussed the setting up of a new semiconductor fabrication plant in Kolkata.

The new plant will be established with support from the India Semiconductor Mission as well as a strategic technology partnership between Bharat Semi, 3rdiTech, and the US Space Force. 

“President Biden and Prime Minister Modi hailed a watershed watershed arrangement to establish a new semiconductor fabrication plant focused on advanced sensing, communication, and power electronics for national security, next-generation telecommunications, and green energy applications,” the White House said in a statement. 

In a fact sheet issued after the high-stakes talks, Biden welcomed the procurement of 31 General Atomics MQ-9B Sky Guardian and Sea Guardian drones which will help boost India’s surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities.

India has been in the process of acquiring the drones in a nearly $3 billion deal which will help it heighten the surveillance apparatus of the armed forces, especially along the frontier with China.

Economy ties 

The two leaders signed an MoU between the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Small Business Administration for promoting cooperation between US and Indian small and medium-sized enterprises.

The MoU provides for building economic ties through capacity-building workshops in areas such as trade and export finance, technology and digital trade, green economy and trade facilitation.

US-India Global Digital Development Partnership was also launched during the meet which aims to bring together US and Indian private sector companies, technology and resources to deploy the responsible use of emerging digital technologies in Asia and Africa.

Indo-Pacific security 

A new regional Maritime Initiative for Training in the Indo-Pacific (MAITRI) has also been started to monitor and secure the waters in the tumultuous region and enforce the laws whilst deterring unlawful behaviour. India will be hosting the inaugural MAITRI workshop in 2025.

President Biden added that the US supports initiatives to reform global institutions to reflect India’s important voice, including permanent membership for India in a reformed UN Security Council.

(With inputs from agencies)

Abhinav Singh

Football. Geopolitics. Cricket. Music. F1. In no particular order.



Source link

Share post:

Popular

More like this
Related

Hurricane Milton from space: Astronaut shares timelapse of mega storm

Hurricane Milton has raised fears of massive devastation...

Climate change fueled the fury of hurricanes Helene and Milton

Extreme Climate Survey Science News is collecting reader questions...

Stock market today: BSE Sensex opens over 200 points up; Nifty50 above 25,050

Technical analysis by Nagaraj Shetti of HDFC...

Google Chat Rolls Out Video Messaging Feature and Transcription Capabilities for Voice Messages

Google has announced new Workspace updates for its...