India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri has called for semiconductor companies to shift from concentration to partnerships to reduce vulnerabilities from dependence on single sources. Speaking at Semicon India 2026 on Friday, Misri emphasized that countries, including India, need to create credible alternatives while avoiding confrontation. According to reports from Business Standard, Misri stated that semiconductors are the most collaborative industry the world has ever produced, requiring nations to build capabilities with discipline while knowing exactly where sovereign capabilities must be established. "For me, this occasion is about one thing, and one thing alone… And that is partnership," Misri said, noting that no nation builds a chip alone and that the highly distributed nature of the semiconductor value chain makes international partnerships essential.
Misri outlined India's approach to semiconductor self-reliance, noting that a nation building everything within its own borders risks higher costs, slower innovation, and a more isolated industrial base. As reported by Business Standard, India is investing to build indigenous capability in design, packaging and manufacturing while inviting the world's leading equipment makers, material suppliers and design houses to build alongside Indian companies. The Foreign Secretary highlighted the dependence of the domestic semiconductor industry on imported equipment and materials, while emphasizing the need to build fluency across regulatory environments. "Self-reliance does not mean building everything within our own borders. No nation on Earth does that, and no nation should try," Misri said, adding that India should identify the capabilities that need to be sovereign while working with trusted partners where international collaboration makes greater sense.
Misri highlighted several advantages that global chipmakers can leverage in India, including a young, English-fluent engineering and design talent base, a domestic market that is already enormous and continues to scale rapidly, and political-democratic stability and credibility. According to Business Standard, India's ambition is not to compete for dominance in the industry but to be a partner, actively working with companies that want to build with reliable and honest collaboration while being genuinely open to the world. "India's ambition in this spirit is not to compete for dominance in this industrial sector. It is to be a partner to companies that they want to build with," Misri said, emphasizing that India's semiconductor self-reliance, or Atmanirbharta, should not be interpreted as an attempt to recreate the entire global semiconductor supply chain domestically.
Misri framed the semiconductor industry as a 'shared national project', noting that government incentives are being offered globally to keep respective domestic industries moving ahead in the competitive race. As reported by Business Standard, the Foreign Secretary's comments come amid growing global focus on semiconductor self-reliance and the need to reduce dependence on single sources, particularly highlighting China's dominance in rare earth processing and advanced-node manufacturing. "This is also the sentiment behind India's own Semicon India programme," Misri said, pointing to the ₹76,000 crore Semicon India 1.0 programme with 12 approved projects and three projects already in production as signs of progress. The Foreign Secretary highlighted that government incentives are reshaping the semiconductor landscape, with the US commitment of more than $50 billion through its CHIPS Act, China's investment in domestic capability and Europe's ambition to capture a fifth of global manufacturing capacity.
For companies evaluating semiconductor partnerships, Misri outlined key principles for successful collaboration. According to Business Standard, he emphasized looking for complementarity rather than duplication, weighing predictability alongside price, and investing in relationships before they are needed. "First, look for complementarity, not duplication," Misri said, arguing that the strongest partnerships combine capabilities that complement each other. He urged companies to weigh predictability heavily when choosing partners, given the long timelines involved in semiconductor investments, noting that "where a facility can take years to build and decades to pay off, the ability to plan confidently is itself valuable." Misri also called for companies to build relationships through joint research, shared training and sustained collaboration, stating that "Trust, once earned, is among the most durable assets a company can hold."
