Trade discussions: India-US to streamline export control systems

India and the U.S. have committed to streamlining their export control systems for critical technologies during the first India-U.S. Strategic Trade Dialogue (IUSSTD). The dialogue took place in Washington last week, with senior delegations led by Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra, U.S. Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, and Under Secretary for Commerce Alan Estevez.

These discussions occurred just before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington, during which several high-tech partnerships, including a deal involving the sale of GE-414 jet engines to India, are expected to be finalised.

The US officials emphasized the importance of meeting countries where they understand each other’s objectives, such as delivering for their citizens, building clean energy infrastructure, and addressing post-COVID debt challenges. They praised the US-India partnership, stating that the relationship between the two countries has been the strongest in terms of technology, defence cooperation, and people-to-people ties.

The IUSSTD primarily focuses on facilitating the development and trade of critical technologies in various domains such as semiconductors, space, telecommunications, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, defence, and biotechnology. According to a press release from the Indian Embassy, both sides reviewed their respective bilateral export control regulations with the aim of establishing resilient supply chains for these strategic technologies. 

Source: The Hindu