The integrated circuit wars

US chip sanctions on China should be a wake-up call for India to quickly scale up and boost its capabilities in this critical arena

The integrated circuit or “silicon chip” war has just entered a new phase. The sanctions announced by US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to deny China access to the leading-edge chips that the latter doesn’t have the capability to design and manufacture yet.

The sanctions not only prohibit the sale of the newest generations of chips to China but goes on to forbid any US firm or those dependent on US technology from selling or licensing software, equipment or technologies that China will need to build its capabilities in chips. Beyond that, it restricts US citizens and even those holding