Eye on China, Modi & Biden stress on 5G/6G collaborations

Spread the love

By Our Special Correspondent

New Delhi, September 8: With an eye on China, India and the US on Friday reiterated their commitments to intensify collaborations in 5g/6G and other telecommunication technologies. US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a bilateral meeting ahead of the G20 Leaders’ Summit during which the two leaders took a close view on the collaborations in the telecom sector.

“A 5G Open RAN pilot in a leading Indian telecom operator will be undertaken by a U.S. Open RAN manufacturer before field deployment,” said the India and US joint statement issued after the meeting of Modi and Biden, while the two leaders stressed on the participation of Indian companies in the U.S. Rip and Replace Program. “President Biden also welcomed India’s support for a Rip and Replace pilot in the United States,” added the statement.
The two leaders welcomed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Bharat 6G Alliance and Next G Alliance, operated by Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions, as a first step towards deepening public-private cooperation between vendors and operators. They further acknowledged the setting-up of two Joint Task Forces focused on collaboration in the field of Open RAN and research and development in 5G/6G technologies.

“The United States reiterated its commitment to working together with India in the quantum domain, both bilaterally and through the Quantum Entanglement Exchange, a platform to facilitate international quantum exchange opportunities; and welcomed the participation of India’s S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Kolkata, as a member of the Quantum Economic Development Consortium,” added the joint statement, which also stated that “Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay joining the Chicago Quantum Exchange as an international partner” was noted by the two leaders.
They hailed the signing of an Implementation Arrangement between the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and India’s Department of Biotechnology to enable scientific and technological research collaborations in biotechnology and biomanufacturing innovations.

“They welcomed the call for proposals released by NSF and India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to foster academic and industrial collaboration in semiconductor research, next generation communication systems, cyber-security, sustainability and green technologies, and intelligent transportation systems,” added the joint statement.

Reaffirming their commitment to building resilient technology value chains and linking defence industrial ecosystems, the leaders recommitted their administrations to promoting policies and adapting regulations that facilitate greater technology sharing, co-development, and co-production opportunities between Indian and U.S. industry, government and academic institutions. “They also welcomed continued engagement through an inter-agency monitoring mechanism under the auspices of the bilateral Strategic Trade Dialogue, launched in June 2023. The leaders welcomed the signing of an MoU between Indian universities, represented by the Council of Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT Council), and the Association of American Universities (AAU) to establish the India-U.S. Global Challenges Institute, with a combined initial commitment of at least $10 million,” added the joint statement.

The Global Challenges Institute will bring together leading research and higher-education institutions from across our two nations, including beyond AAU and IIT membership, to advance new frontiers in science and technology, spanning collaboration in sustainable energy and agriculture, health and pandemic preparedness, semiconductor technology and manufacturing, advanced materials, telecommunications, artificial intelligence, and quantum science.
“The leaders also welcomed the growing number of multi-institutional collaborative education partnerships, such as those between New York University-Tandon and IIT Kanpur Advanced Research Center, and the Joint Research Centers of the State University of New York at Buffalo and IIT Delhi, Kanpur, Jodhpur, and BHU, in the areas of critical and emerging technologies,” added the joint statement.