India-US developing technologies that will transform lives globally: Biden

Washington: India and the US are teaming up to design and develop new technologies that will transform lives around the world, President Joe Biden has said and underlined that he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are determined to negotiate the "speed bumps" impeding bilateral technological cooperation.

Biden, who held wide-ranging talks with Modi on Thursday at the White House, said that technological cooperation will be a big part in defining the India-US partnership.

“We are teaming up to design and develop new technologies that are going to transform the lives of our people around the world," he said on Friday.

"Together, we’re lifting the private and public partners to make this possible, including launching a new programme between India and American astronauts, Indian astronauts, and entrepreneurs, scientists, and students.

“Simply put, our countries are taking innovation and cooperation to a new level in our relationship, and thanks in large part to the folks around this table,” he said at an event, also attended by Prime Minister Modi.

Observing that speed bumps are impeding technological partnership when they occur, Biden said: “The Prime Minister and I can commit to building around them, over them, and through them." "Because it matters - our cooperation matters -- not just to our own people but, I quite frankly think, to the whole world. Because our partnership is about more than the next breakthrough or the next deal and -- as big as they may be,” he said.

It is about taking climate change and tackling it, about exploring the universe, about lifting people out of poverty, curing cancer and other serious diseases, preventing pandemics and giving citizens real opportunity, Biden said.

"It’s about forging a more free, secure, and more prosperous future for our children, supporting the dynamism and diversity of our democracies and democracies everywhere,” he said.

“We’re sticking up for our values and the vision of the world. And so, our partnership between India and the United States will go a long way, in my view, to define what the 21st century looks like. And our technology and technological cooperation will be a big part of defining our partnership,” Biden said.

Prime Minister Modi, in his remarks, said the coming together of Indian talent and US technology is definitely a guarantee for a bright future.

Modi said he is very pleased to see the progress that America has made in the area of technology under Biden's leadership.

“And, the youth in India, thanks to its talent, has created an identity for itself in the world. So, this coming together of talent and technology, I believe, this is definitely a guarantee for a bright future,” he said.

“This coming together of talent and technology, I believe this is definitely a guarantee for a bright future,” Modi said at a White House event in a meeting with senior officials and CEOs from technology companies.

The event, among others, was attended by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Google CEO Sunder Pichai, Reliance head Mukesh Ambani, Mahindra chief Anand Mahindra and Astronaut Sunita Williams.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit K Doval and India’s Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu were also present at the meeting chaired by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.