AI, Trade, Defence, Energy: Key Discussions Between PM Modi and Trump

New Delhi, Feb 14 (NationPress) In a significant reaffirmation of their partnership, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump underscored the strong India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, which is anchored in mutual trust and shared democratic values.

During their prominent meeting in Washington, the leaders reiterated their commitment to freedom, the rule of law, human rights, and pluralism, marking a robust alliance between their nations as stated in the press release from the Prime Minister's office.

Prime Minister Modi and President Trump during their recent engagement introduced a new initiative -- the "US-India COMPACT (Catalysing Opportunities for Military Partnership, Accelerated Commerce & Technology) for the 21st Century" – to initiate transformative changes across essential areas of cooperation.

"Through this initiative, they pledged to a results-oriented agenda with initial outcomes expected this year to showcase the trust level for a mutually beneficial partnership," mentioned the press release.

Defence

The leaders reaffirmed their steadfast commitment to a dynamic defence partnership covering multiple domains. To further enhance defence ties, they announced plans to sign a new ten-year Framework for the 'US-India Major Defense Partnership' in the 21st Century this year.

The leaders acknowledged the significant integration of US-origin defence items into India's arsenal to date, including C‑130J Super Hercules, C‑17 Globemaster III, P‑8I Poseidon aircraft; CH‑47F Chinooks, MH‑60R Seahawks, and AH‑64E Apaches; Harpoon anti-ship missiles; M777 howitzers; and MQ‑9Bs. They determined that the US would expand defence sales and co-production with India to enhance interoperability and defence industrial cooperation.

Plans were also announced for new procurements and co-production arrangements for "Javelin" Anti-Tank Guided Missiles and "Stryker" Infantry Combat Vehicles in India this year to rapidly meet India’s defence needs, with expectations of completing procurement for six additional P-8I Maritime Patrol aircraft to bolster India’s maritime surveillance capabilities in the Indian Ocean Region following agreement on sale terms.

Recognising India's status as a Major Defence Partner with Strategic Trade Authorization-1 (STA‑1) and a vital Quad partner, the US and India will examine their respective arms transfer regulations, including International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), to streamline defence trade, technology exchange, and maintenance of US-provided defence systems.

The leaders also called for the initiation of negotiations this year for a Reciprocal Defence Procurement (RDP) agreement to better align their procurement systems and facilitate mutual supply of defence goods and services. They committed to accelerating cooperation in defence technology across various domains, including space, air defence, missile systems, maritime operations, and undersea technologies. The US also announced a review of its policy regarding the release of fifth-generation fighter jets and undersea systems to India.

Building on the US-India Roadmap for Defence Industrial Cooperation and acknowledging the growing significance of autonomous systems, the leaders announced a new initiative - the Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance (ASIA) - to enhance industry partnerships and production in the Indo-Pacific.

The leaders welcomed a new collaboration between 'Anduril Industries and Mahindra Group' on advanced autonomous technologies to jointly develop state-of-the-art maritime systems and advanced AI-enabled counter Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) to strengthen regional security, alongside a partnership between L3 Harris and Bharat Electronics for the co-development of active towed array systems.

The leaders also vowed to enhance military cooperation across all domains – air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace – through improved training, exercises, and operations, utilizing the latest technologies. They welcomed the upcoming "Tiger Triumph" tri-service exercise (first inaugurated in 2019) which will be hosted in India and will feature an expanded scale and complexity.

Ultimately, the leaders committed to exploring new avenues to support and sustain the overseas deployments of US and Indian militaries in the Indo-Pacific region, including enhanced logistics and intelligence sharing, as well as arrangements to improve force mobility for joint humanitarian and disaster relief operations along with other exchanges and security cooperation engagements.

Trade and Investments

The leaders agreed to bolster trade and investment to enhance prosperity for their citizens, strengthen their nations, encourage innovation in their economies, and create more resilient supply chains. They committed to deepening the US-India trade relationship to promote growth that ensures fairness, enhances national security, and creates job opportunities. To achieve this, they set an ambitious target for bilateral trade, termed "Mission 500," which aims to more than double total bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.

Recognising that this level of ambition requires new, fair-trade terms, the leaders announced plans to negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by the fall of 2025. They committed to appointing senior representatives to advance these negotiations and ensure that the trade relationship fully reflects the aspirations of the COMPACT.

To advance this innovative, extensive BTA, the US and India will adopt an integrated approach to strengthen and deepen bilateral trade across the goods and services sector, focusing on increasing market access, reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers, and enhancing supply chain integration.

The leaders welcomed initial measures to exhibit mutual commitment to addressing bilateral trade barriers. The US welcomed India’s recent actions to reduce tariffs on US products of interest in the areas of bourbon, motorcycles, ICT products, and metals, as well as efforts to enhance market access for US agricultural products.

India expressed gratitude for US measures taken to boost exports of Indian mangoes and pomegranates to the US. Both sides also pledged to collaborate to enhance bilateral trade by boosting US exports of industrial goods to India and increasing Indian exports of labour-intensive manufactured products to the US. The two nations will also work jointly to elevate trade in agricultural goods.

Finally, the leaders committed to fostering opportunities for US and Indian companies to engage in greenfield investments in high-value industries within each other’s territories.

In this context, the leaders welcomed ongoing investments by Indian companies worth approximately $7.35 billion, including those by Hindalco’s Novelis in finished aluminium goods at their state-of-the-art facilities in Alabama and Kentucky; JSW in steel manufacturing operations in Texas and Ohio; Epsilon Advanced Materials in critical battery materials production in North Carolina; and Jubilant Pharma in injectable manufacturing in Washington. These investments collectively support over 3,000 high-quality jobs for local families.

Energy Security

The leaders emphasized the significance of US-India collaboration to ensure energy affordability, reliability, availability, and stable energy markets. Recognising the consequential role of the US and India as major producers and consumers in shaping the global energy landscape, the leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the US-India Energy Security Partnership, encompassing oil, gas, and civil nuclear energy.

The leaders underscored the necessity of enhancing hydrocarbon production to ensure better global energy prices and secure affordable, reliable energy access for their citizens. They also highlighted the importance of strategic petroleum reserves to maintain economic stability during crises and resolved to collaborate with key partners to expand strategic oil reserve arrangements.

In this context, the US side expressed its firm support for India’s accession to the International Energy Agency as a full member.

The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to enhance energy trade, as part of their efforts to ensure energy security and to establish the US as a leading supplier of crude oil and petroleum products and liquefied natural gas to India.

The leaders announced their commitment to fully realise the US-India 123 Civil Nuclear Agreement by progressing plans to collaborate on building US-designed nuclear reactors in India through large-scale localisation and potential technology transfer. Both sides welcomed the recent Budget announcement by the Government of India regarding amendments to the Atomic Energy Act and the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLNDA) for nuclear reactors and further decided to establish bilateral arrangements under CLNDA that would address civil liability issues and facilitate collaboration between Indian and US industries in the production and deployment of nuclear reactors.

Technology and Innovation

The leaders introduced the US-India TRUST ("Transforming the Relationship Utilizing Strategic Technology") initiative, which will catalyse collaboration between governments, academia, and the private sector to enhance the application of critical and emerging technologies in areas such as defence, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum, biotechnology, energy, and space, while promoting the use of verified technology vendors and ensuring the protection of sensitive technologies.

As a central component of the "TRUST" initiative, the leaders committed to working with US and Indian private industries to develop a US-India Roadmap on Accelerating AI Infrastructure by year-end, identifying barriers to financing, building, powering, and connecting large-scale US-origin AI infrastructure in India with milestones and future actions.

The two nations will collaborate to enable industry partnerships and investments in next-generation data centres, facilitate access to compute and processors for AI development, innovate AI models, and create AI applications to address societal challenges while ensuring the necessary protections and controls are in place to safeguard these technologies and reduce regulatory barriers.

The leaders announced the initiation of INDUS Innovation, a new innovation bridge modelled after the successful INDUS-X platform, which will advance US-India industry and academic partnerships and promote investments in space, energy, and other emerging technologies to uphold US and India’s leadership in innovation and address the needs of the 21st century. The leaders also reinforced their commitment to the INDUS-X initiative, which fosters partnerships between US and Indian defence companies, investors, and universities to develop critical capabilities for their militaries, and welcomed the next summit to be held in 2025.

Recognising the strategic significance of critical minerals for emerging technologies and advanced manufacturing, India and the US will expedite collaboration in research and development and promote investment across the entire critical mineral value chain, including through the Mineral Security Partnership, which both countries are part of. Both nations have pledged to intensify efforts to deepen cooperation in the exploration, beneficiation, processing, and recycling technologies of critical minerals. In this regard, the leaders announced the launch of the Strategic Mineral Recovery initiative, a new US-India program aimed at recovering and processing critical minerals from heavy industries such as aluminium, coal mining, oil, and gas.

The leaders celebrated 2025 as a groundbreaking year for US-India civil space cooperation, with plans for a NASA-ISRO initiative through AXIOM to send the first Indian astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS), along with the early launch of the joint "NISAR" mission, the first of its kind to systematically map changes to the Earth’s surface using dual radars.

The leaders advocated for enhanced collaboration in space exploration, including long-duration human spaceflight missions, spaceflight safety, and sharing expertise and professional exchanges in emerging areas, such as planetary protection.

The leaders highlighted the importance of strengthening ties between the US and Indian scientific research communities, announcing a new partnership between the US National Science Foundation and the Indian Anusandhan National Research Foundation to research critical and emerging technologies. This partnership builds on ongoing collaboration between the US National Science Foundation and several Indian scientific agencies to enable joint research in the fields of semiconductors, connected vehicles, machine learning, next-generation telecommunications, intelligent transportation systems, and future biomanufacturing.

The leaders resolved that their governments will intensify efforts to address export controls, enhance high-technology commerce, and reduce barriers to technology transfer between both nations while ensuring technology security.

Multilateral Cooperation

The leaders stressed that a strong partnership between the US and India is vital for ensuring a free, open, peaceful, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region. As partners in the Quad, they reiterated that this collaboration is based on several key principles: the importance of ASEAN's central role; adherence to international law and good governance; support for the safety and freedom of navigation, overflight, and other lawful uses of the seas; the promotion of unimpeded lawful commerce; and the encouragement of peaceful resolutions to maritime disputes in line with international law.

PM Modi looks forward to welcoming President Trump in New Delhi for the Quad Leaders’ Summit, before which the leaders will activate new Quad initiatives on shared airlift capacity to assist civilian responses to natural disasters and maritime patrols to improve interoperability.

The leaders resolved to strengthen cooperation, enhance diplomatic consultations, and increase tangible collaboration with partners in the Middle East. They plan to convene partners from the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor and the I2U2 Group within the next six months to unveil new initiatives in 2025.

The US values India’s role as a provider of developmental and humanitarian assistance, as well as net security in the Indian Ocean Region. In this context, the leaders pledged to deepen bilateral dialogue and cooperation throughout the expansive Indian Ocean region and launched the Indian Ocean Strategic Venture, a new bilateral, whole-of-government forum to advance coordinated investments in economic connectivity and commerce.

Supporting enhanced Indian Ocean connectivity, the leaders welcomed Meta’s announcement of a multi-billion, multi-year investment in an undersea cable project that will commence this year and ultimately span over 50,000 km to connect five continents and bolster global digital highways in the Indian Ocean region and beyond. India intends to invest in the maintenance, repair, and financing of undersea cables in the Indian Ocean, utilizing trusted vendors.

The leaders recognised the necessity of establishing new plurilateral anchor partnerships in the Western Indian Ocean, Middle East, and Indo-Pacific to cultivate relationships, commerce, and cooperation across defence, technology, energy, and critical minerals.

The leaders also pledged to advance military cooperation in multinational settings to promote global peace and security. They lauded India’s decision to assume a future leadership role in the Combined Maritime Forces naval task force to help secure sea lanes in the Arabian Sea.

The leaders reiterated that the global menace of terrorism must be confronted and that terrorist safe havens should be eradicated from every corner of the globe. They committed to bolstering cooperation against terrorist threats from groups, including Al-Qa’ida, ISIS, Jaish-e Mohammad, and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, to prevent heinous acts like the attacks in Mumbai on 26/11 and the Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan on August 26, 2021.

Recognising a shared commitment to bring to justice those who would harm their citizens, the US announced that the extradition of Tahawwur Rana to India has been approved.

The leaders further urged Pakistan to swiftly bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot attacks and to ensure that its territory is not used to execute cross-border terrorist attacks. They also pledged to collaborate in preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems, denying access to such weapons to terrorists and non-state actors.

People to People Cooperation

US President Trump and PM Modi acknowledged the significance of enhancing the people-to-people connections between their nations. They noted that over 300,000 strong Indian student communities contribute more than $8 billion annually to the US economy and have facilitated the creation of numerous direct and indirect jobs.

They recognised that the flow of talent and movement of students, researchers, and employees has mutually benefited both countries.

Both leaders stressed that the evolution of the world into a global workplace necessitates the establishment of innovative, mutually beneficial, and secure mobility frameworks.

The leaders also committed to fortifying law enforcement cooperation to take decisive action against illegal immigration networks, organised crime syndicates, including narco-terrorists, human and arms traffickers, and other elements that threaten public and diplomatic safety and security, as well as the sovereignty and territorial integrity of both nations.

US President Trump and PM Modi pledged to maintain strong engagement between their governments, industries, and academic institutions. They aspire to achieve a lasting partnership between India and the US that aligns with the aspirations of both nations for a bright and prosperous future, contributes to global welfare, and supports a free and open Indo-Pacific region.