On the sidelines of the SCSP AI+ Expo for National Competitiveness, ORF America and the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP) launched the U.S.-India Technology Cooperation Track 1.5 Dialogue. Over 60 senior participants and thought leaders from government, industry, civil society, and academia candidly discussed issues and opportunities tied to greater U.S.-India cooperation on AI and other technologies.

After welcome remarks from Samir Saran, President of ORF, Ylli Bajraktari, President & CEO of SCSP, and Mathew Oommen, Group CEO of Jio Platforms Limited, both spoke about deepening U.S.-India bilateral ties and the need to advance the agenda under the TRUST (Transforming the Relationship Utilizing Strategic Technology) initiative announced by Prime Minister Modi and President Trump in February 2025. Through the lens of practical cooperation in four key areas — AI infrastructure and data centers, specific domains and applications, relevant policies and mechanisms, and talent — U.S. and Indian participants shared perspectives on meaningful actions in priority sectors such as semiconductors, defense tech, large language models and data, and energy.

The U.S.-India Technology Cooperation Track 1.5 Dialogue will be complementary to existing fora, leverage ORF America’s existing efforts on AI, and provide inputs to the U.S. and Indian governments and relevant industry ahead of the Fall 2025 Quad Summit and the 2026 AI Impact Summit, both to be hosted in India. The initiative aims to identify clear needs for each side and provide targeted recommendations for leveraging the United States and India’s respective strengths in bilateral cooperation on critical and emerging technologies.