Why in news?
👉Coinciding with Prime Minister Modi’s first state visit, India and the U.S. have announced a slew of deals in defence cooperation, space technology, AI and other areas.
80% Tech transfer for Jet-engine:
👉The U.S.-India joint statement mentions the “landmark” signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between General Electric (GE) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the manufacture of GE F414 jet engines in India, for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mk2- this deal marks the end of the technology denial regime.
Semiconductors:
👉Micron Technology (a US company) will invest around USD 2.75 billion in the next five years to build a new semiconductor assembly and test facility in India.
- This further involves USD 400 million investment in 4 years to set up a collaborative engineering center along with the training of 60,000 Indian engineers.
31 MQ-9B drones:
👉Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed India’s plans to procure General Atomics MQ-9B High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) Unmanned Aerial vehicles (UAV).
👉MQ-9Bs, which will be assembled in India, will enhance the Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities of India’s armed forces across domains.
Artemis Accords:
👉India signs global Artemis accord with US, to share data resources over Moon mission.
👉Nasa has welcomed India as the 27th Artemis accords signatory. The new agreement aims to boost cooperation between the two countries and explore the domain beyond the boundaries of Earth.
👉The Artemis Accords is a non-binding multilateral arrangement between the United States government and other world governments participating in the Artemis program, an American-led effort to return humans to the Moon by 2025, with the ultimate goal of expanding space exploration to Mars and beyond.
India as a US Ally:
👉Despite the vast mutual, strategic interests of the two countries, India cannot be termed as a ‘US ally’ due to its foreign policy approach of non-alignment.
- Indian leaders across parties and over decades have long prioritized foreign policy independence as a central feature of India’s approach to the world.
👉Especially since the end of the Cold War, Indian leaders have sought to improve ties with the US, but not by curtailing India’s independent approach to foreign policy.