On Monday, the External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar embarked on a three days trip to the United States to attend a major ministerial conference on critical minerals to be held at Washington, a visit that is being keenly monitored amidst the looming trade hostilities surrounding the tariff policies of the Trump administration.
Jaishankar will be present on February 4 at the critical minerals ministerial held by the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Another important aspect of the visit is that he will have a series of meetings with the senior officials of the US administration, which will indicate the strategic value attached by both parties to collaboration in this sector.
It is anticipated that the ministerial deliberations will focus on enhancing supply chain resiliency, promoting clean energy transitions and further strategic partnership in sourcing and processing of critical minerals. Those with knowledge of the progressions indicated that India is also poised to become part of Pax Silica, a flagship US-based program to establish secure and diversified global supply chains of semiconductors and artificial intelligence technologies.
The conference will convene the leaders of the G7 countries, that is the UK, Japan, Germany and Italy, as well as rich mineral-producing countries, like Congo, Guinea and Kenya. The aim is to increase multilateral arrangements and promote investments in the alternative supply chains of rare earths and other crucial minerals.
It is the second meeting this year convened by the US on critical minerals. In January, the G7 finance ministers as well as other partner countries convened a meeting that was chaired by the US Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, and resolved to step up efforts to decrease reliance on China as a source of rare earths. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw was the Indian representative to that meeting. The US State Department has emphasized that critical mineral supply chains need to be strengthened by partnering with trusted individuals and groups in efforts that are essential to the economic and national security of America.
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