India and the US have launched the TRUST initiative to strengthen collaboration in critical and emerging technologies. The partnership aims to boost innovation, secure supply chains, and promote joint research and development.

FREMONT, CA: India and the US have taken a significant step in deepening their strategic partnership by renaming and expanding the Biden-era Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET). The revamped effort, now called the US-India TRUST initiative, is a Strategic move that marks a broader and more ambitious collaboration between countries across critical domains such as artificial intelligence (AI), defense, space, semiconductors, energy, and biotechnology.

Unlike iCET, which was initially a government-to-government framework, the TRUST initiative widens the scope to include academia and private sector players as central partners. The new framework reflects the developing global technology landscape, especially China's growing geopolitical and economic challenges. A central pillar of TRUST is the development of a US-India Roadmap on Accelerating AI Infrastructure, a highly anticipated release expected by the end of the year. This roadmap will identify barriers to financing, building, and operating large-scale US-origin AI infrastructure in India, potentially paving the way for significant advancements in AI technology.

In addition, the launch of INDUS Innovation, modeled after the successful INDUS-X defense platform, aims to promote public-private partnerships and academic collaboration in emerging technologies like space, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing. This initiative holds great potential and supports the ongoing INDUS-X initiative, encouraging cooperation between US and Indian defense companies and research institutions.

Another essential component of the TRUST initiative is the push for resilient and trusted supply chains, especially in sectors like semiconductors, critical minerals, advanced materials, and pharmaceuticals. One of the key lessons from the pandemic was the vulnerability of global medical supply chains, many of which relied heavily on China. In response, India and the US plan to encourage public and private investments in expanding pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity in both countries, particularly for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) vital for life-saving medicines.

The countries have launched the Strategic Mineral Recovery initiative to support this goal of boosting domestic sourcing and processing of critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, and rare earth elements. These resources are essential for emerging technologies, especially renewable energy and electric vehicles. The initiative will focus on recovering minerals from heavy industries and strengthening the entire value chain through research, investment, and innovation, all under the umbrella of the broader Mineral Security Partnership.

On the research front, a Memorandum of Cooperation has been signed between the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and India's Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF). This agreement will facilitate joint research in semiconductors, machine learning, connected vehicles, intelligent transport, and biomanufacturing. It is expected to open funding opportunities for joint proposals, enable collaborative peer reviews, and promote bilateral conferences and workshops focused on next-generation technologies.

The space sector is also emerging as a key area of collaboration. Plans are in motion for an Indian astronaut to travel to the International Space Station (ISS) through a NASA-ISRO mission in partnership with AXIOM, potentially making 2025 a milestone year in India-US civil space cooperation. The countries also aim to launch the NISAR mission, a joint Earth observation satellite that will map changes to the planet's surface using advanced dual-frequency radar.