A strategic agreement to strengthen cooperation in vital minerals and rare earths—which are essential components for producing semiconductors, electric cars, solar panels, and high-tech defense products—was signed by the US and India on Tuesday.
The agreement is made in response to mounting international worries over China’s control over these vital inputs, which provides the communist superpower the ability to interfere with international supply chains.
In the presence of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar, the agreement was signed during the Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting here.
“Today, we are signing a bilateral framework between the United States and India to secure mining and processing supply of rare earths and key minerals. We also talked about this at the Quad meeting today, and whether we do it bilaterally, in the Quad format, or as a bigger assembly of like-minded states, it is an extremely important and timely matter,” EAM Jaishankar stated.
According to him, the framework seeks to strengthen collaboration along the whole supply chain for rare earths and essential minerals, including mining, processing, recycling, and associated investment.
The US and India “have a strategic and shared interest in the fact that vibrant innovation economies such as ours cannot afford to leave the foundational materials of these industries vulnerable to single source monopolies that could deny us these things, not just in a time of conflict, but as a leverage point contrary to our sovereign national interests,” according to Rubio.
“Over the past few days, I have talked a lot about the strategic partnership between the United States and India and how crucial it is to our country’s interests. And today is a concrete illustration of it. He clarified, “We are two nations with strategic interests in guaranteeing dependable long-term access to vital minerals and supply chains that are significant for our innovation economy.”
He noted that India’s participation in the Critical Minerals Forum held in Washington, DC on February 4th created the foundation for the accord.
He also mentioned India’s adoption of the Pax Silica Declaration, a strategic alliance led by the United States that aims to create reliable, secure, and resilient supply chains for semiconductors, vital minerals, and artificial intelligence (AI).
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