ICET Framework

About ICET

• The Initiative for Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) is an inter-governmental initiative between the United States and India.
• It was launched in May 2022 by US President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• Objective was to elevate and expand strategic technology partnership and defense industrial cooperation between the governments, businesses, and academic institutions of the two countries.
• The United States and India affirmed that the ways in which technology is designed, developed, governed, and used should be shaped by their shared democratic values and respect for universal human rights.
• On January 31, 2023, the National Security Advisor of India Ajit Doval and the United States National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan held inaugural meeting of the iCET in Washington, D.C., United States.

What is ICET?

• India and the US discussed opportunities for greater cooperation in critical and emerging technologies, co-development and coproduction
• The initiative will deepen connectivity across innovation ecosystems in both the countries.  
• The initiative aims to elevate and expand Indo-U.S. strategic technology partnership and defence industrial cooperation between the governments, businesses, and academic institutions of the two countries with common values and respect for human rights.

Pillars of ICET

• Strengthening Innovation Ecosystem
• Defence Innovation & Technology Cooperation
• Resilient Semiconductor Supply Chains
• Space
• Next Generation Telecommunication

BECA- Basic Exchange & Cooperation Agreement

BECA

• India and the United States on October 27, 2020, signed the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA).
•  This along with the two agreements signed earlier — the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) and the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) — completes a troika of “foundational pacts” for deep military cooperation between the two countries.
• BECA will help India get real-time access to American geospatial intelligence.
• This will enhance the accuracy of automated systems and weapons like missiles and armed drones. 
• Through the sharing of information on maps and satellite images, it will help India access topographical and aeronautical data, and advanced products that will aid in navigation and targeting.
• BECA will help India get real-time access to American geospatial intelligence.
• This will enhance the accuracy of automated systems and weapons like missiles and armed drones. 
• Through the sharing of information on maps and satellite images, it will help India access topographical and aeronautical data, and advanced products that will aid in navigation and targeting.
• Just as your radio cab (or the GPS in your smartphone) helps you zero in on the path to your destination and helps you reach it quickly and efficiently.
• BECA will provide Indian military systems with a high-quality GPS to navigate missiles with real-time intelligence to precisely target the adversary.

Significance of BECA

• This is in sync with increasing formalization of QUAD, which can be seen in the joining of Australia in the Malabar naval exercises.
• India will be able to keep a close watch on the movements of Chinese warships in the Indian Ocean.

LEMOA

• LEMOA (Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement) was signed in August 2016. 
• LEMOA allows the militaries of the US and India to replenish from each other’s bases, and access supplies, spare parts and services from each other’s land facilities, air bases, and ports, which can then be reimbursed.
• LEMOA is extremely useful for India-US Navy-to-Navy cooperation, since the two countries are cooperating closely in the Indo-Pacific. 
• To put the usefulness of this agreement in simple terms, it is like being able to stop at a friend’s garage or workshop to refuel your car or get it repaired when you are far away from your own home or workshop.
• India had indeed provided ad hoc logistics support to the US in the past.
•  Such as allowing the refueling of American aircraft in Bombay during the first Gulf War in 1991 and letting US warships visit Indian ports during the war on terror after 9/11.
• The signing of LEMOA has institutionalized this process and made it smoother.

COMCASA

COMCASA – Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement

• COMCASA was signed in September 2018, after the first 2+2 dialogue during which then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and then Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman met the visiting Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo and then Secretary of Defence James N Mattis.
• The pact allows the US to provide India with its encrypted communications equipment and systems so that Indian and US military commanders, and the aircraft and ships of the two countries, can communicate through secure networks during times of both peace and war. 
• Again, to take a simple example, it’s like being able to exchange messages or communicate with a friend on WhatsApp, Signal, or Telegram in real time and in a secure manner.

DTII- Defence Technology & Trade 

Initiative

• According to the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, DTTI came about to expedite the scope of cooperation on defence technology that become narrow due to the presence of differing bureaucratic processes and legal requirements. 
• Essentially, DTTI is an initiative to provide “increased US senior level oversight and engagement to get beyond these obstacles.”
• While DTTI is not a treaty or law, it is a flexible mechanism to make sure that senior leaders from both countries are engaged consistently to strengthen the opportunities in the field of defence. 
• Its central aims include strengthening India’s defence industrial base, exploring new areas of technological development and expanding U.S.-India business ties

You Must Know

• In August 2018, the US granted to India the designation of Strategic Trade Authority Tier 1 or STA-1.
• Thereby Providing India with greater supply-chain efficiency by allowing US companies to export a greater range of dual-use and high-technology items to India under streamlined processes.
• This authorization is the equivalent of NATO allying with Japan, South Korea and Australia.
• India is among eight countries where US defense exports are not restricted.
• June 2016: The recognition of India as a “Major Defence Partner”.

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