Role of Semiconductors in India's National Security

A confluence of factors — the Covid-19 lockdown, the crisis in the Taiwan Strait, climate change, the excessive dependence on certain countries, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and the weaponisation of interdependence6 — have all reinforced the notion that for India to grow securely in the future, self-reliance on semiconductors — to the extent possible — has now become a critical security issue. [...] The importance of TSMC to not only the commerce of the entire world but to the very existence of Taiwan is so crucial that the company has been termed Taiwan’s ‘Silicon Shield’.39 The USA has pledged to save the island from Chinese invasion and, if it fails, follow a ‘scorched-earth’ policy to ensure that the company and its technological know-how do not fall into Chinese hands.40 THE IMPORTANCE O. [...] Role of Semiconductors in India's National Security | 23 mitigation of climate change, and the maintenance of the compact between the people and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) post-1989,47 are all dependent on the continuous deliverance of progress and economic development to Chinese citizens in exchange for their silence and acquiescence in the Party’s sole hold on political power. [...] TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY: A BRIEF HISTORY The concept of ToT gained prominence in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when it was assumed that the superior technologies of the West, especially in agriculture, healthcare, education, and transportation, could be transferred to the least developing countries (LDCs).92 The assumption was also that elites within the recipient country could overcome the resis. [...] The common training of skilled personnel, the easy mobilisation of this personnel, the transfer of codified technology from one unit of a multinational corporation (MNC) to an overseas subsidiary, and the standardised infrastructure technology programs have all served to lower the cost of obtaining tacit information.96 During the 1970s, in the West — and especially in the USA — there was a focus o.