WASHINGTON, D.C. — A leading U.S. business advocacy group on Thursday welcomed India’s participation in the inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial, calling it a key step toward strengthening global supply chains critical to technology, economic growth, and national security.
The U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum said India’s presence at the ministerial, led by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, marked a historic engagement hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington.
“This historic engagement will create momentum for collaboration to secure the critical mineral supply chains vital to technological innovation, economic strength, and national security,” the forum said in a statement.
The group said India is emerging as a pivotal player in the critical minerals sector, pointing to the country’s significant reserves of key resources, including rare earth elements, and a rapidly expanding pipeline for exploration and auctions.
According to the forum, tapping India’s geological potential is essential to unlocking major economic opportunities while reducing global dependence on a limited number of concentrated supply sources. Such efforts, it said, would support advanced manufacturing, sustainable energy development, and high-tech job creation, while strengthening supply chains essential for long-term economic resilience.
The forum said it supports a critical minerals framework agreement that would help ensure the United States and India have reliable access to key resources through clear standards governing both public and private investment.
Those standards, the statement said, should apply to mining, processing, and recycling, and include pricing safeguards to protect producers from unfair trade practices by competitors.
The group also voiced strong support for deeper collaboration between governments and industry, including the development of transparent and predictable policy frameworks and the promotion of joint ventures and technology partnerships across the entire minerals value chain.
“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,” the forum said.
It also pointed to President Donald Trump’s “Project Vault” as an initiative that could reinforce cooperation on critical minerals by linking economic security, national security, technological leadership, and a resilient energy future.
The forum said stronger U.S.-India cooperation in critical minerals will be essential to maintaining long-term industrial competitiveness and safeguarding supply chains that support emerging technologies. (Source: IANS)
