Washington DC [US], February 5 : The Us-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) welcomed India's participation, led by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in the inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial at the US Department of State in Washington DC, hosted by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The USIPF said that this historic engagement will create momentum for collaboration to secure the critical mineral supply chains vital to technological innovation, economic strength, and national security.
India today is emerging as a pivotal critical minerals player, with some of the world's largest reserves of key resources such as the rare earth elements, alongside a rapidly expanding exploration and auction pipeline. Leveraging this geological endowment is essential not only to unlock a significant economic opportunity - supporting advanced manufacturing, sustainable energy, and high tech jobs but also to reduce global overdependence on a few concentrated supply sources, the USIPF said.
USISPF said it supports a critical mineral framework agreement that provides the template to ensure the US and India access to critical minerals through standards for government and private investment in areas including mining, processing and recycling to price guarantees that protect producers from competitors' unfair trade policies.
USISPF further said it strongly supports efforts to deepen government-industry collaboration on: co-developing transparent and predictable policy frameworks; promoting joint ventures and technology partnerships across the mine to market value chain. "We believe these steps are vital to translating India's resource potential into real projects and bankable, long term contracts that underpin both countries' energy security and industrial competitiveness."
"We look forward to continued engagement with policymakers and industry leaders in both countries to advance practical initiatives like President Trump's "Project Vault" that strengthen critical minerals cooperation that is key to our economic and national security, technological leadership, and a resilient energy future."