PM Modi's State visit an opportunity to elevate Indo-US technology partnership, says Raimondo

PM Modi US visit news: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's State Visit to the US next week will be an opportunity to elevate India-US commercial and strategic technology partnerships, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has said. Modi will be welcomed as a State Guest in Washington DC on June 22 by President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden. He will address a joint session of the US Congress on the same day. The President and the First Lady will also host Modi at a State Dinner later in the day. Raimondo, speaking on the visit at the annual India Ideas Summit of the US-India Business Council, said, "This will be an opportunity to elevate our governments' commercial and strategic technology partnerships, including in defence, semiconductor supply chains, clean energy and space."

A great advocate of India-US relationship, Raimondo said she and Union Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal are focused on the development and security of critical and emerging technology. "Semiconductors are essential to this effort and the MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) that Minister Goyal and I signed in March will bring our two sides closer together as we both respond to the urgent need to create stronger and more secure semiconductor supply chains," she said.

During the commercial dialogue, the two nations also announced a new working group that will leverage the two countries' robust trade and investment relationship and the shared spirit of entrepreneurship to promote innovation and grow jobs, especially in emerging technologies. "We're aiming to lift-up and connect our dynamic innovation ecosystems, address regulatory hurdles to cooperate and further bolster our shared vision of an elevated strategic technology partnership," Raimondo said.

Observing that the US is working with India as part of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), she said it is the administration's overarching framework for deepening economic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. "Last month, we announced the substantial conclusion of a first-of-its-kind international agreement on supply chains. Through the proposed agreement, the IPEF partners will seek to increase the resilience, diversity, and security of our supply chains through individual and collective actions," Raimondo sai