U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is arriving in New Delhi on Sunday on a two-day visit, a fortnight before President Joe Biden’s last day in office.
President Biden, 82, will leave office on January 20- the inauguration day when President-elect Donald Trump and Vice-President-elect, J.D. Vance will be sworn in and will take office.
During his final visit to India as NSA, Sullivan will hold the third round of initiative on Critical And Emerging Technologies, and review its progress with Ajit Doval, India’s longest serving NSA.
According to sources, Sullivan is also expected to receive a warm welcome from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Announcing the NSA’s visit, White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said in a Press gaggle that Sullivan is travelling to New Delhi on January 5-6 for a ” capstone meeting with Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.”
Kirby went on to say that the meeting ” will span a range of issues across the breadth of our partnership with India from space, defense, strategic technology cooperation, all the way also to shared priorities in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.”
He added that the U.S. NSA will also meet External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and other Indian leaders.
Jake Sullivan will also visit the Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi where he will meet young Indian entrepreneurs.
At IIT, Sullivan will also give a speech outlining the significant steps that the United States and India have taken to ” strengthen our innovation alliance under the U.S.-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology, otherwise known as iCET.
The iCET was announced by India and U.S. in May 2022 to ensure greater collaboration between India and the U.S. in areas of critical technologies.
It was officially launched in January 2023 and is being run by the National Security Council of both countries.
While leading the inaugural meeting of the iCET in Washington D.C., the two NSAs noted the value of establishing “innovation bridges” in key sectors, including through expos, hackathons, and pitch sessions.
They also identified the fields of biotechnology, advanced materials, and rare earth processing technology as areas for future cooperation.
Reuters reported on Friday that Sullivan’s visit is also expected to include discussions with Indian counterparts about the impact of Chinese dams.
“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 U.S. official said ahead of Sullivan’s visit.
The official added that Washington will discuss New Delhi’s concerns during the visit.
The U.S. National Security Advisor is the second high ranking dignitary India will receive in the New Year- the first diplomatic visitor being the Maldivian Foreign Minister, Abdulla Khaleel who was here from January 2 to 4.
Sullivan is credited with pushing the F-414 jet engine deal between US defence partner GE and India’s HAL.
During his tenure, the U.S. NSA also supported India on manufacture of semiconductors.
When India and the U.S. experienced tension over the alleged targeting of Sikh separatists by India, the U.S. NSA spoke over the phone with his seasoned Indian counterpart, in early November.
The two NSAs also discussed regional security developments and bilateral issues including defence cooperation
The back to back diplomatic engagements that began on the very second day of the New Year signify Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s earnestness about having a super busy diplomatic calendar, in third term in office.
Modi enjoys a good rapport with U.S. President -elect Donald Trump.
Likewise, he enjoys good relations with U.S. President Joe Biden.
During Modi’s visit to the U.S. in September 2024 for the Quad Leaders’ Summit, Biden welcomed Modi at his residence with a lot of warmth.
After the meeting, Biden posted on X, “The United States’ partnership with India is stronger, closer, and more dynamic than any time in history. Prime Minister Modi, each time we sit down, I’m struck by our ability to find new areas of cooperation. Today was no different.”
Moreover, the recent visit of External Affairs Minister and career diplomat, S Jaishankar to United States, reflects the Indian government’s keenness in continuing to engage with the outgoing Biden administration and renewing ties with the Trump administration.
During this visit (December 24 to 29), Jaishankar met Congressman Michael Waltz, who is Trump’s nominee for National Security Adviser.
They had a wide-ranging conversation on the bilateral ties as well as current global issues.
This was the first highest-level in-person meeting between the Indian government and the incoming Trump administration.
Waltz, 50, will replace Jake Sullivan as the NSA on January 20, when Trump is sworn in as the 47th President of the United States.
Notably, Sullivan was the first senior US official to visit India within ten days of Modi taking oath for the third consecutive term on June 9.
At that time, Sullivan chaired the second meeting of the initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) with NSA, Ajit Doval
The two sides had then agreed on the next measures in their strategic technology partnership and pledged to remove long-standing barriers to strategic trade.
