India - US: Semiconductor Chips, a Geopolitical Weapon
STORIES, ANALYSES, EXPERT VIEWS
The business of making semiconductor chips has assumed the form of a geopolitical weapon. As governments respond to national security concerns brought out starkly by pandemic-era shortages and shifts in the global supply chain, The Tribune writes “India, too, has been paying more attention to ratchet up its nascent semiconductor industry with production-linked incentives. Last year, Foxconn, the Taiwanese firm that assembles Apple’s iPhones, and mining company Vedanta teamed up to build a chip-making facility in Gujarat. The memorandum of understanding with the US on information-sharing on the semiconductor policy, commercial avenues and innovation is a boost for India’s goal to have a larger role in the electronics supply chain. Leveraging complementary strengths would work to the advantage of both countries.”
The Biden administration has been proactive in pursuing a policy shift to end the heavy reliance on China and Taiwan for critical technological components. Expanding cooperation in advanced weaponry, supercomputing, semiconductors and other high-tech fields with India could be a part of its plan of ‘friendshoring’ or shifting the manufacturing of certain critical components to friendly countries. It’s an opportunity not to be missed.
