US, India trade pact will cement ties, speed up adoption of US tech in India: William Kimmit

A top visiting US official has said that the new trade agreement between India and the US would cement bilateral ties for decades and accelerate the adoption of cutting-edge US technologies in the Indian market.

William Kimmit, the Under Secretary at international trade administration (ITA) in the US department of commerce, who is on a visit to India to participate in the India AI Impact Summit in Delhi, visited Bengaluru on Tuesday. “It is a privilege to visit the heart of tech innovation in Bangalore at such a critical juncture for the US-India relationship,” Kimmitt said.

The delegation, led by Kimmitt, met US and Indian technology companies in Bengaluru to understand investments in artificial intelligence (AI), the deployment of AI across business models, and opportunities to deepen US-India technology partnerships.


The meetings included interactions with Chevron Engine, Google DeepMind, South Park Commons, and Biocon, an official statement said.

In addition to industry meetings, Kimmitt, along with Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, joined a roundtable organised by the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, focussed on defence cooperation in emerging technologies. As per an official release, the discussions were around advancing the new trade deal and promoting US AI and technology exports.

Kimmitt also invited Indian founders to participate in the 'American AI Exports Programme.' The event aims to invite proposals from industry-led consortia to export full-stack AI technology packages. These packages will include AI-optimised hardware, data centre infrastructure, models, cybersecurity tools, and sector-specific applications and will be matched with trusted overseas partners once approved, the statement from the ITA read.

The ITA delegation also included deputy under secretary Brandon Remington, deputy assistant secretary for Asia Pamela Phan, and chief of staff Trevor Kellogg.