India is the only country on earth that fundamentally rivals China with respect to the depth of its and talent pool, US Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Jacob Helberg said on Monday, heaping praise on India’s technological prowess.
He called India an “indispensable” partner in tech dominance and also noted how the country was progressing in the technology sector.
“India is especially interesting because it’s not only a country with whom we have a deep values alignment, but India obviously is the only country on Earth that fundamentally rivals China, with respect to the depth of its engineering workforce and talent pool,” he said at the IX USISPF Leadership Summit 2026.
“It has a true nascent technology ecosystem and is making some pretty incredible contributions at the application layer, which we think is absolutely essential for technology diffusion,” he added.
‘India committed to the future’
During an interaction with news agency ANI, Jacob Helberg also touched upon an AI developer ecosystem and said that the US was engaged with India on that front. “So the big takeaway is India is totally committed to the future,” he said.
He also said that India has one of the successful engineering workforces and expressed interest in working Indian counterparts on expanding technology.
“Those conversations are still unfolding. I’m sure you followed the news over the weekend that the Commerce Department recently rolled out a trusted partner program, and so we’re continuing that process,” he said.
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He also mentioned sensitive high-tech discussions involving leading American AI labs like Anthropic. Helberg met with IT Secretary S Krishnan to discuss strengthening technology cooperation. He said that the two leaders spoke about “unlocking new opportunities” for shared growth between the US and India in the global AI economy. “American companies are ready to build, invest, and innovate in India,” he said.
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Engineering and the IT sector is a popularly chosen profession in India and often becomes a path for workers to seek employment abroad, especially in the US. More than 70% of H-1B visa applications approved in recent years have gone to Indian workers, while China accounts for the second largest group of foreign workers receiving these visas.
