The United States and India have announced a significant partnership to secure and expand global undersea cable networks, underscoring New Delhi’s growing role as a digital hub.

The collaboration was revealed by the US Embassy in India, which confirmed that both governments and industry experts convened in September for an “Undersea Cables Workshop” to safeguard critical subsea communication infrastructure.

The Embassy stressed that undersea cables form the backbone of global digital connectivity, powering economies, cloud services, and the artificial intelligence revolution. It noted that the partnership aims to strengthen the security, resilience, and diversification of these networks, which are essential to keeping the world connected.

Under the US-India TRUST (Transforming the Relationship Utilising Strategic Technologies) Initiative, subsea cable networks are recognised as the structural foundation for digital commerce, data centres, cloud platforms, and the rapidly expanding AI economy. The Embassy highlighted that secure and resilient cables are vital to maintaining interconnected international economies.

India’s role was emphasised as pivotal, with its booming digital economy, rising demand for cloud and AI capabilities, and strategic geographical location linking major global markets. These factors position New Delhi to establish itself as a primary global subsea cable hub.

US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor earlier explained that the TRUST initiative, launched during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington last year, is deepening cooperation in critical and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum computing, biotechnology, energy, and space. He stated that the US is focusing on partnerships with trusted collaborators, and India is considered one of those partners.

Gor also highlighted India’s inclusion in the Pax Silica initiative, a trusted technology and supply-chain network led by the United States. He remarked that India was among the first ten countries to join, reflecting Washington’s confidence in India’s people, technology, and government. He added that India is now part of a network of trusted ecosystems and resilient supply chains covering AI, semiconductors, and quantum computing.

The TRUST initiative was designed to catalyse collaboration across government, academia, and the private sector, promoting applications of critical technologies in defence, AI, semiconductors, quantum, biotechnology, energy, and space. It also encourages the use of verified technology vendors and ensures sensitive technologies are protected.

As a central pillar of the initiative, both nations committed to working with private industry to produce a US-India Roadmap on Accelerating AI Infrastructure by the end of the year. This roadmap will identify constraints to financing, building, powering, and connecting large-scale US-origin AI infrastructure in India, with milestones and future actions outlined.

The joint statement further noted that the US and India will cooperate to enable industry partnerships and investments in next-generation data centres. They will also collaborate on access to compute and processors for AI, innovations in AI models, and building applications to solve societal challenges. At the same time, protections and controls will be implemented to safeguard these technologies and reduce regulatory barriers.

This partnership reflects a broader strategic alignment between Washington and New Delhi, positioning India as a trusted global player in digital infrastructure and advanced technologies.

ANI