US NSA Sullivan meets Jaishankar in India, discusses tech cooperation
What's the story
United States National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is on a two-day visit to India, his last trip under the outgoing Joe Biden administration.
On Monday, he met India's Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar in New Delhi. The talks focused on strengthening bilateral cooperation in critical technologies and maritime security.
This comes after Jaishankar's recent US visit where he met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NSA-designate Mike Waltz.
Tech talks
Sullivan to co-chair technology initiative meeting in India
During his visit, Sullivan will co-chair a meeting of the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) with Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
The iCET is a bilateral mechanism aimed at strengthening technology partnerships and defense industrial cooperation between India and the US.
This will be the third such meeting co-chaired by Sullivan and Doval after a previous session in June 2024.
Environmental impact
Concerns over China's dam construction on agenda
The talks are also likely to address concerns over China's construction of a dam on the Brahmaputra river near India's border.
A senior US official has voiced concerns over potential environmental and climate impacts on downstream countries such as India.
"We've certainly seen in many places in the Indo-Pacific that upstream dams that the Chinese have created...can have really potentially damaging environmental but also climate impacts on downstream countries," the senior US official said.
Diplomatic engagements
Sullivan's visit includes meetings with Indian leaders, IIT-D visit
Sullivan's schedule also features meetings with other Indian leaders and a visit to the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi (IIT-D).
At IIT-D, he intends to interact with young entrepreneurs and discuss progress made under iCET in bolstering innovation between the two countries.
The White House has termed Sullivan's trip a "capstone meeting" spanning a range of issues across the breadth of the US-India partnership, including space, defense, strategic technology cooperation, and shared security priorities in the Indo-Pacific region.