‘Don’t expect US to share any technology’: Attorney on India’s trade off for strategic autonomy

India is no longer in the priority list of the US, and New Delhi should not expect any technology sharing from Washington going ahead, said attorney and author Navroop Singh. He added that the QUAD is in quandary and is as good as dead.

Singh’s assessment comes amid the US' hardline stance on India. Not only has the US imposed the highest tariff of 50 per cent, including 25 per cent of penalty for purchasing Russian oil, Washington has also blamed India for profiteering and supporting the war on Ukraine, revoked the waiver of sanctions granted to India on Iran's Chabahar port, ending the special exemption granted to India, and then hiked the fees for H-1B visa to $100,000. India is the biggest beneficiary of the H-1B visa. The new move is seen as another pressure tactic on India that’s a key exporter of IT services to the US.

“India is no more in the priority list of the USA. The Indo-Pacific pivot & Quad is in quandary and good as dead. Data localisation by RBI norms have not been rescinded so that part stands. We can make our own routers like by Tejas Network etc install them instead of CISCO…Don’t expect Americans to share any technology going ahead. It's a transactionalist relationship now,” said Singh.

He said homegrown companies like Tejas Network should supply local routers/notes under PLI schemes.

Singh added that India must acknowledge that the Chinese are way ahead in terms of rare earths, auto magnets, and APIs as Americans are in big technology. “We have to be elastic towards Silicon Valley,” he added. India can’t demand a dime while forwarding strategic autonomy, he said. “That’s perfectly fine, it’s a trade off,” he said, adding that for India’s strategic autonomy, Russian oil and arms, trade with China, independent foreign policy, protecting agriculture and dairy is a very small give away.

Meanwhile, India and the US are continuing their trade talks. Commerce minister Piyush Goyal, chief negotiator Rajesh Agrawal, and team are in the US to discuss the trade deal. The minister is also expected to meet USTR Jamieson Greer in New York City.