(From left) Australian Foreign Minister Wong, EAM Jaishankar, Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi and US Secretary of State Rubio during the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting, in New Delhi.
(Photo:PTI)
New Delhi, May 26: India and the United States, on Tuesday, signed a key framework for cooperation on critical minerals, deepening their strategic partnership in a domain that has taken on renewed global urgency amid China's tightening grip on rare earth exports.
The framework, focused on securing and strengthening supply chains across the mining and processing of critical minerals, was signed on the sidelines of the Quad foreign ministers' meeting in New Delhi.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, speaking in the presence of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, described the agreement as both timely and consequential.
"This framework aims to deepen our cooperation across the entire critical minerals and rare earth supply chain, including mining, processing, recycling and related investment," he said.
Jaishankar added that the framework would strengthen resilient and diversified supply chains, help finance projects and ensure effective management of critical minerals and rare earths.
"It is one more sign of how close our cooperation has been in a world where there are so many challenges but also so many opportunities," he said.
Rubio underscored the strategic logic driving the pact, framing it as a necessary safeguard for two innovation-driven economies that cannot afford to leave their foundational supply chains vulnerable.
"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," he said.
The Secretary of State elaborated that the risk was not limited to times of open conflict. "Vibrant innovation economies such as ours cannot afford to leave the foundational materials of these industries vulnerable to a single-source monopoly - one that could be used as a leverage point contrary to our sovereign national interests," he said.
"I am glad we were able to sign this because, in addition to being an important document and agreement, it is a tangible example of the strategic partnership between the US and India," Rubio added.
Through the framework, the two countries will work together in international efforts to protect sensitive supply chains from coercive market practices and reduce collective vulnerability to single-source dependencies.
The US government has mobilised over USD 30 billion in investments, loans and other support, in partnership with the private sector, to secure critical mineral supply chains globally.
Officials noted that these government outlays were having a multiplier effect, attracting private capital many times greater than direct public investment.
The agreement also builds on the Pax Silica initiative, launched in December last year, which seeks to build a secure, resilient and innovation-driven supply chain for critical minerals and artificial intelligence.
PTI