India at par with NATO nations for tech trade, says US official

Kendler concluded a five-day visit to India on Friday after holding meetings with government officials and industry bodies to discuss dual-use export control issues and prepare grounds for the inaugural India-US Strategic Trade Dialogue in Washington next month. Dual-use items are goods, software and technology that can be used for civilian and military applications. The India-US Strategic Trade Dialogue, Kendler said, will prove a building block for the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET). The iCET, helmed by national security advisers in both countries, aims to build up cooperation in a host of critical technologies like semiconductors, biotechnology, advanced materials and rare-earth processing technology, among others.

In March, India and the US decided to launch a strategic trade dialogue to address export controls, explore ways of enhancing high-technology commerce, and facilitate technology transfers.

At an interaction with a small group of reporters, Kendler highlighted the US concerns about Russia’s possible use of third countries to circumvent sanctions to access critical technologies.

“We also know that Russia is illegally using third countries to obtain items that the US and 38 other economies have restricted. We’re actively following the trade diversion and backfilling data very closely and taking responsive measures,” she said.

Asked whether the potential threat from China was also on the agenda in her discussions with Indian officials, Kendler spoke of the challenge posed by China’s “military-civil fusion strategy” in the sphere of advanced technologies.

“China’s a difficult question because they have this military-civil fusion strategy, which makes it very difficult for Indian and US companies to know their end users,” Kendler said.

“If you don’t know whether the [Chinese] government’s going to take over a technology and whether the entity you’re shipping to is sharing that commercial technology with the military actor, it’s challenging for the industry, and we want to make sure that we’re providing the best advice we can,” she added.

Kendler did not comment on a question by The Indian Express on whether the Indian government, in its conversations with the US on tech trade, has outlined its current stance on local production and sourcing.

“I’m afraid I can’t comment on the conversations between the governments. But we’re excited about the cooperation with the Indian government… there are areas where we can collaborate on innovating new technologies, and we’re just excited,” she said.