WASHINGTON -UNS/Reuters :US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, is headed to India next week for final preparations ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Washington later this month, the White House confirmed on Wednesday.
Washington is working to deepen ties with the world’s largest democracy, forging military and industrial links with the South Asian country as a key counterweight to China’s dominance, even as the two democracies differ on how to deal with Russia’s Ukraine invasion.
A spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council said Sullivan would “meet with Indian officials to discuss deepening collaboration across critical areas of importance between the US and India” ahead of Modi’s June 22 state visit.
A senior official told Reuters that Sullivan would look over the state visit’s “outcomes” and make sure “that we’re moving in the right direction.”
Last May, Biden and Modi announced a bilateral “initiative on critical and emerging technology,” dubbed an “iCET”, directing their governments to work together on advanced technology from artificial intelligence (AI) to semiconductor chips and quantum computing, especially in defence.
