QUAD meet: India, US seal critical minerals, rare earths pact
What's the story
India and the United States have signed a strategic agreement on critical minerals and rare earths. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed the framework during the Quad Foreign Ministers's meeting in New Delhi. The agreement aims to strengthen supply chains for key resources used in semiconductors, electric vehicles, clean energy and defense technologies.
Supply chain security
Agreement to reduce reliance on China's rare earth dominance
The pact is part of efforts to diversify sourcing and reduce reliance on China's dominance in rare earth processing and supplies. "We are today signing a bilateral India-US framework on securing supplies of mining and processing of critical minerals and rare earths," Jaishankar said after signing the agreement. He added that this framework would deepen cooperation across the entire critical minerals supply chain.
EAM
It will strengthen resilient and diversified supply chains
"This framework aims to deepen our cooperation across the entire critical minerals and rare earth supply chain, including mining, processing, recycling and related investment. It will strengthen resilient and diversified supply chains, help us to collaborate and financing and with the effective management of critical minerals and rare earths," EAM said. "It is one more sign of how close our cooperation is in a world where there are so many challenges but also so many opportunities," he added.
Strategic partnership
Rubio emphasizes strategic interests in critical minerals
Rubio also spoke about the importance of this agreement for both nations' national interests. He said, "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 groundwork for this was laid on the 4th of February at the Critical Minerals Forum in Washington, DC. It gained momentum later that month when India signed on to Paxilla.
Economic impact
Deal brings tangible example of strategic partnership between US-India
"Both have a strategic and shared interest in the fact that vibrant innovation economies such as ours cannot afford to leave....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," Rubio said. In addition to being an important agreement, it brings a tangible example of the strategic partnership between the US and India, he added.