New Delhi and Washington unveiled a major critical minerals agreement during the Quad meeting as the two countries push for secure and diversified supply chains….reports Asian Lite News
India and the United States on Tuesday signed a strategic framework to strengthen cooperation in critical minerals and rare earths, key sectors currently dominated by China. The agreement aims to secure supply chains for semiconductors, electric vehicles, clean energy and advanced defence technologies.
New Delhi: India and the United States on Tuesday signed a major agreement to deepen cooperation in critical minerals and rare earths as both countries seek to reduce dependence on China’s dominance in the sector.
The pact was signed during the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in New Delhi in the presence of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The framework focuses on strengthening collaboration across the supply chain for critical minerals and rare earths, which are essential for manufacturing semiconductors, electric vehicles, solar panels and advanced defence equipment.
Announcing the agreement, Jaishankar said the framework would cover mining, processing, recycling and investment related to critical minerals.
“We are today signing a bilateral India US framework on securing supplies of mining and processing of critical minerals and rare earths. This is something we have also discussed today at the Quad meeting,” Jaishankar said.
He added that cooperation on critical minerals had become increasingly important both at the bilateral level and among like minded nations working together through forums such as the Quad.
The agreement comes amid growing global concerns over China’s overwhelming control of critical minerals and rare earth processing, a dominance seen by many countries as a strategic vulnerability capable of disrupting global supply chains.
Rubio said the partnership reflected the shared strategic interests of India and the United States in securing long term access to critical materials needed for modern innovation economies.
“We are two countries that have strategic interests in ensuring reliable long term access to critical minerals and supply chains that are important for our innovation economy,” Rubio said.
He added that advanced economies could not afford to leave vital industrial inputs vulnerable to “single source monopolies” that could be used as geopolitical leverage.
Rubio also highlighted the growing strategic partnership between India and the US, describing the agreement as a practical example of expanding cooperation between the two countries.
The US Secretary of State noted that groundwork for the framework had been laid during the Critical Minerals Forum hosted in Washington in February, where India participated in discussions on resilient supply chains.
He also referred to India joining the Pax Silica Declaration, a US led initiative aimed at building secure and trusted supply chains for artificial intelligence, semiconductors and critical minerals.
The Quad grouping, comprising India, the United States, Japan and Australia, has increasingly focused on economic resilience, technology cooperation and supply chain security alongside maritime and strategic issues.
