Setback for China as US, Israel agree to collaborate with India in developing 5G technology

Washington: In yet another setback for China, two developed nations - Israel and the United States - have begun collaboration with India in developing the next generation of emerging technologies.

The three countries have agreed to work together for developing a transparent, open, reliable and secure 5G communication network.

The branching out of this trilateral initiative in the development and technological arena is a result of the people-to-people collaboration, in particular those by the Indian diaspora in the US and Israel, that was initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his historic visit to Israel three years ago in July 2017, community leaders said.

A collaboration in 5G is a just tip of the iceberg and a first step, according to US Agency for International Development (USAID) Deputy Administrator Bonnie Glick.

"We are thrilled to work with these partners to solve the world's development challenges," she said in her keynote address to the virtual US-India-Israel summit that focused on trilateral partnerships in the strategic, technology and development arenas. The summit was also addressed by Israeli Ambassador to India Ron Malka and his counterpart Sanjeev Singla.

"One area we've been cooperating on is digital leadership and innovation, particularly in next-generation 5G technology," Glick said. As part of the initiative, Silicon Valley, Bengaluru and Tel Aviv - all leading, innovative technology hubs – will increase collaboration for developing 5G technologies, Glick said.

When Israel. The US and India collaborate in defence, much of that collaboration and discussion is done in closed rooms, because the topics are highly sensitive, the official said.

"When we're talking about development cooperation, we're talking about transparent and open activities that can make all three countries extremely proud about the way that they impact the lives of people all over the world," Glick said

Javier Piedra, deputy assistant administrator of the Bureau for Asia at USAID, said that in the case of India and Israel, they had a "peer-to-peer relationship", always looking to see how they might advance their respective activities cooperatively so that they might leverage common goals, resources, and comparative advantages in pursuit of self-reliance globally.

"Moreover, we continue to set the stage to further international development trilaterally, wherever possible," he said.

"Our partnerships with Israel and India, given our peer-to-peer relationship, exemplifies the importance of working together on issues related to water, water management, and security," Piedra was quoted as saying by PTI.

M R Rangaswami from Indiaspora, who presented the tech-triangle (Silicon Valley-Tel Aviv and Bangalore) concept to PM Modi in Israel in 2017, said the beauty of this model was because the technology was a commonality in the three things, all kinds of "incredible things" had come out of it.

Dr Bharat Barai, an Indian-American from Chicago, said the people-to-people relationship, business, science and technology among the three countries would not only strengthen the ties, but also help in developmental activities in the third-world countries.

Nissim Reuben, assistant director, Asia Pacific Institute (API) at the American Jewish Committee, said a strong, prosperous, vibrant and resilient Indian economy was a top priority for many countries, especially the US and Israel.

(With PTI inputs)