US To Ease Curbs On Indian Firms' Access To Nuclear Tech: Sullivan On Last New Delhi Trip As NSA

Last Updated:January 06, 2025, 16:58 IST

US NSA Jake Sullivan said the India-US partnership was the most consequential of the 21st century, underscoring the need for a step-by-step process to build trust.

Jake Sullivan, on his last visit to India as US NSA, met EAM Jaishankar earlier today. (S Jaishankar/X)

Outgoing US Security Adviser Jake Sullivan once again shone the spotlight on the increasing bilateral cooperation between India and the United States, emphasising the need to work step-by-step to build trust and describing the ties between the two countries as the most consequential of the 21st century.

In a major announcement, Sullivan announced that Indian companies would be removed from a sanctions list restricting access to nuclear tech. “My last trip overseas as NSA of the US and it could not have been better than this visiting India," Sullivan said during an event at IIT Delhi.

Sullivan said it had been two decades since former PM Manmohan Singh signed the Civil Nuclear Deal with then-US President George Bush, but the two countries are yet to realise civil nuclear cooperation.

Hence, the US is finalising the necessary steps to avoid any obstructions, including the removal of Indian companies from the sanctions list. The paperwork for this step is still pending, Sullivan said.

Sullivan On India-US Ties

Lauding India-US ties, Sullivan also highlighted former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s visit to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US to see innovations and businesses in America, which inspired the creation of IIT institutes. He said the US is deeply invested in India’s success.

The outgoing NSA highlighted that the US welcomes more students from India than any other country and is also on course to launch Indian astronauts into space. He also highlighted the iCET initiative between India and the US.

“Over the last four years, we’ve (US and India) joined hands to help halt a pandemic, to bring vaccines to the world. We’ve launched initiatives on jet engines, semiconductors and clean energy and in a few months time we’ll come together to put an Indian astronaut in space. These are remarkable achievements and we made them by harnessing the remarkable innovation of the American and Indian people," he said.

Sullivan also said the US is boosting cooperation with India in defence and space, by preparing defence systems here and providing support for future Indian missions to the Moon. He exemplified this by pointing that a quarter of iPhones would soon be made in India and Micron’s partnership with Indian companys for semiconductor manufacturing.

‘We Launched IMEC, Got Disrupted By Oct 7 Attack’: US NSA

Sullivan also turned the focus towards the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, an initiative launched during the G20 Summit hosted by India in 2023 that aims to improve connectivity and economic integration between Asia, the Gulf and Europe.

He said the IMEC was launched with the help of India and the United States, but was disrupted due to the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Sullivan said he spoke to the incoming Trump administration and apprised them of the significance of the IMEC initiative and to offer it as an alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

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