Why US NSA’s India visit is significant before PM Modi heads to Washington

United States National Security Adviser (NSA) Jake Sullivan will be reaching India on 13 June (Tuesday) for a two-day visit. His trip comes just a week before Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads to Washington for his state visit from June 21-24. The US NSA is expected to chart out the agenda for the Indian prime minister’s visit. Sullivan’s arrival comes on the heels of US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin’s visit to Delhi on 4 June, and Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra’s visit to the US the following day. What to expect from Jake Sullivan’s New Delhi visit? Why is it significant ahead of Modi’s trip to the US? We explain. US NSA’s India visit The US NSA will be meeting his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval in New Delhi. According to Hindustan Times (HT) report, he is also slated to hold talks with Prime Minister Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. Indo-Pacific Coordinator at the National Security Council Kurt Campbell might also attend the meet, reported WION.  The two sides are expected to finalise key strategic and defence agreements that might be signed or announced during Modi’s state visit, reported The Hindu. [caption id=“attachment_12730872” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] PM Narendra Modi and US president Joe Biden are expected to sign major deals during the Indian premier’s state visit to America. Reuters File Photo[/caption] Sullivan is likely to iron out the details of a mega defence deal – GE-414 engine pact – under which these jet engines will be assembled in India, as per HT. According to ThePrint, the deal will see collaboration between state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and American company General Electric (GE) for jointly producing domestic jet engines for Indian military aircraft. As some parts of the engine are sourced from European countries, the US has been making efforts to get all partners on board, as per the HT report. Moreover, India is seeking to manufacture precision-guided munitions in partnership with US companies, the report added. NSA Sullivan is likely to discuss the two countries’ position on Russia’s war in Ukraine with his Indian counterpart Doval, as well as countering the cyber threat posed by China to India, reported HT. ALSO READ: PM Modi to make first state visit to the US: What is it? How is it different from other visits? Why is US NSA’s visit significant? Ahead of Modi’s US visit, Sullivan would “meet with Indian officials to discuss deepening collaboration across critical areas of importance between the US and India”, a spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council was quoted as saying by news agency Reuters earlier. A senior US official told the news agency that the US NSA would oversee the state visit’s “outcomes” and ensure “that we’re moving in the right direction.” Sullivan has reportedly played a key role in bolstering ties between India and the US. As per HT, when differences arose between New Delhi and Washington over the Ukraine war, it was the US NSA who made sure that those “divergences don’t become a defining feature of the relationship”. He told the Washington DC Institute last year that America does not believe in lecturing India over the issue. “We are investing in a relationship that we are not going to judge by one issue, even if that issue is quite consequential, but rather that we are going to judge over the fullness of time, as we try to work on convergence on the major strategic questions facing our two countries…On one of those questions, how to deal with the challenge posed by China, there is much more convergence today and that is important to US foreign policy,” Sullivan had said last June. Sullivan has also been a driving force of the Joe Biden Administration’s geoeconomic agenda. While the American government is adopting a “de-risking” strategy towards China, it is “telling US businesses to invest in India”, according to HT. The two NSAs took part in the US India Business Council meeting in Washington DC in January during the launch of iCET or “initiative on critical and emerging technology”. In May 2022, US president Biden and Indian premier Modi had announced the bilateral initiative. NSAs Doval and Sullivan held inaugural iCET talks on 31 January where the two countries decided to work together on defense, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, high-performance computing and resilient semiconductor supply chains. [caption id=“attachment_12730882” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] US NSA Jake Sullivan has played a key role in bolstering ties between India and the US. Reuters File Photo[/caption] Sullivan’s visit is expected to pave the way for the unveiling of significant defence industrial partnerships and high-technology trade between India and the US. The GE deal is important in this regard as it signals that Washington has realised that “any efforts to integrate India into its wider security plans now requires US companies to invest in manufacturing in India”, reported HT.  With inputs from Reuters  Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.