Collaborate for tech sovereignty

In an era defined by rapid technological advancements, a call for collaboration resonates more powerfully than ever. Recently, President of Russia Vladimir Putin expressed his eagerness to push for collaboration at the BRICS level, focusing on cutting-edge computing technology and data processing. This proposition holds immense promise, particularly from the perspective of technology sovereignty, as India embarks on an ambitious journey to establish its prowess in indigenous technology.

Putin’s overture for collaboration, articulated at the Future Technologies Forum in Moscow, underscores a desire to unite two formidable technology giants—India and China—against the hegemony of certain global powers. Drawing parallels to Russia’s history of confronting challenges with innovation and industrial development, Putin emphasised the importance of forging mutually beneficial technological alliances.

Within this context, India emerges as a natural partner. Notably, both India and China have maintained a neutral stance in the recent Ukrainian conflict, signifying their potential for impartial collaboration. Alexey Fedorov, Principal Investigator of the Quantum Information Technologies group at the Russian Quantum Center (RQC), underscores the collaborative potential when he states: “It is important for India and China to collaborate because together we can make things which are very hard to do alone.”

Ruslan Yunusov, Chief Executive and Co-founder of RQC echoes this sentiment, expressing optimism about future collaborations with India. Plans to establish laboratories specialising in cold atoms, two-dimensional materials, and semiconductors underscore the depth and breadth of this partnership.

Essentially, cold atoms, envisioned as qubits, hold immense potential for quantum computing. Leveraging cooling lasers and optical techniques, these atoms can be manipulated to create robust quantum registers. Similarly, 2D material systems offer opportunities for quantum computing, quantum communication circuits, and quantum sensing schemes.

For India, the potential gains from collaboration with Russia extend beyond the realm of quantum computing. India’s Department of Science and Technology (DST) is actively crafting a vision document to drive the Rs 6,003-crore National Quantum Mission (NQM). This initiative aims to nurture the quantum computing ecosystem through strategic funding and partnerships. With a focus on quantum technologies encompassing computing, communications, metrology and sensing, and materials, the NQM is poised to catalyse transformative technological progress.

The collaboration between India and Russia aligns seamlessly with India’s quantum mission. As the mission strives to create 1,000-qubit quantum computing power in eight years and a secure quantum network via satellite spanning 2,000 km, India can benefit from Russia’s expertise. Notably, India is also aiming to implement inter-city quantum key distribution over 2000 km, long-distance secure quantum communications with other countries, and establish a multiple-node quantum network with quantum memories.

In an interconnected world where technological sovereignty is paramount, forging strong bilateral ties becomes indispensable. Hence, the possibility of an Indo-Russia collaboration represents an alliance of shared values, mutual respect, and technological prowess. By leveraging Russia’s advanced capabilities in quantum computing and other cutting-edge technologies, India can expedite its journey towards technological self-reliance and assert itself as a global technology powerhouse.