AI, 6G, defence, nuclear energy: What PM Modi, Biden discussed before G20 Summit

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It’s India’s big moment. The country is hosting the G20 Leaders’ Summit for the first time and the world’s most powerful leaders have descended upon New Delhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in the thick of all the action. On the sidelines of the summit, he is holding 15 bilaterals and the most significant among them was the meeting with US president Joe Biden. The two leaders had a private dinner and held talks for over 50 minutes on Friday evening. During a discussion on ways to “deepen and diversify” the partnership between the two countries, they spoke about defence, nuclear energy, artificial intelligence, and emerging technologies like 6G.

A joint statement issued after the bilateral talks also said that PM Modi looked forward to welcoming the US president to the next Quad Leaders’ Summit to be hosted by India in 2024.

After the meeting, Biden wrote on X, formerly Twitter, “Today, and throughout the G20, we’ll affirm that the United States-India partnership is stronger, closer, and more dynamic than any time in history.”

We get into the details.

Defence partnership

Modi and Biden discussed the defence deals and the joint statement said that they had agreed to “deepen and diversify” the bilateral defence partnership and welcomed the forward movement in India's procurement of 31 drones and joint development of jet engines.

This is Biden’s first trip to India as president and he is keen to take forward the discussions he had with PM Modi who was in Washington DC for a state visit in June.

The two sides are working toward fast-tracking the GE jet engines deal that was agreed upon during PM Modi's June visit,

The GE jet engine deal was agreed upon during Modi’s visit after General Electric and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited signed a pact to manufacture GE F-414 jet engines in India for the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited Light Combat Aircraft Mk 2. The US Congress approved the deal last week and now the two sides are working on the next steps.

“The leaders welcomed completion of the Congressional Notification process on 29 August 2023 and the commencement of negotiations for a commercial agreement between GE Aerospace and Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL) to manufacture GE F-414 jet engines in India, and recommitted to work collaboratively and expeditiously to support the advancement of this unprecedented co-production and technology transfer proposal,” the joint statement said.

India has plans to procure the highly powerful drones, MQ-9B HALE UAVs.

Nuclear energy cooperation

India-US civil nuclear cooperation was among the top agendas at the meeting. The two leaders discussed bilateral cooperation in developing next-generation small modular nuclear reactor technologies for the domestic market and export. The subject was briefly discussed at the White House on 22 June.

Modi and Biden spoke about the importance of nuclear energy as a necessary resource to meet the climate, energy transition, and energy security needs of the two countries. They welcomed “intensified consultations between the relevant entities on both sides to expand opportunities for facilitating India-US collaboration in nuclear energy, including in the development of next-generation small modular reactor technologies in a collaborative mode,” the joint statement said.

“The United States reaffirmed its support for India's membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group and committed to continue engagement with like-minded partners to advance this goal.”

PM Modi and Biden discussed defence partnership, cooperation in nuclear energy, artificial intelligence and a range of other subjects. Image courtesy: @narendramodi/X

6G

The two leaders welcomed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Bharat 6G Alliance and Next G Alliance. They further acknowledged the setting-up of two Joint Task Forces focused on collaboration in the field of Open RAN and research and development in 5G/6G technologies.

Aritifical Intellgience

Talks were held to discuss cooperation in science and technology, semiconductor technology, artificial intelligence and more.

Indian universities, represented by the Council of Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT Council), and the Association of American Universities (AAU) will establish the India-US Global Challenges Institute, with a combined initial commitment of at least US$10 million.

“The Global Challenges Institute will bring together leading research and higher education institutions from across our two nations, including beyond AAU and IIT membership, to advance new frontiers in science and technology, spanning collaboration in sustainable energy and agriculture, health and pandemic preparedness, semiconductor technology and manufacturing, advanced materials, telecommunications, artificial intelligence, and quantum science,” the joint statement said.

Backing India as a permanent member of the UNSC

During the bilateral meeting, Biden reaffirmed his support for a reformed UN Security Council with India as a permanent member.
The US also welcomed India's candidature for the UNSC non-permanent seat in 2028-29, the White House said in a statement.

"Continuing to share the view that global governance must be more inclusive and representative, President Biden reaffirmed his support for a reformed UN Security Council with India as a permanent member, and, in this context, welcomed once again India's candidature for the UNSC non-permanent seat in 2028-29," read the statement from the White House.

The UN Security Council meeting in New York. Biden has reaffirmed US' support for a reformed UN Security Council with India as a permanent member. File photo/PTI

Setting up a network of universities

In June, Biden and Modi discussed setting up a network of universities, industry and think tanks. After this meeting, more details were divulged on multi-institutional collaborative education partnerships like those between New York University-Tandon and IIT Kanpur Advanced Research Center, and the Joint Research Centers of the State University of New York at Buffalo and IIT Delhi, Kanpur, Jodhpur, and BHU, in the areas of critical and emerging technologies.

Space missions

Biden congratulated PM Modi on the historic landing of Chandrayaan-3 on the south pole of the Moon and the successful launch of the Aditya-L1, India’s first solar mission.

The two sides have also decided to increase coordination on “planetary defence” and the protection of “Earth and space assets from the impact of asteroids and near-Earth objects.”

Gender digital divide and more

The leaders affirmed the importance of bridging the gender digital divide in the digital economy. They noted the G20 commitment to halve the digital gender gap by 2030 and expressed support for the Women in the Digital Economy Initiative.

They also discussed ways to fundamentally “reshape” multilateral development banks. The joint statement also spoke of an agreement on the recovery of remains of fallen US soldiers during the Second World War.

With inputs from agencies



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