External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday held a detailed telephonic conversation with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with discussions focusing on cooperation across a wide range of strategic and economic areas, including trade, critical minerals, nuclear energy, defence and energy.
Jaishankar said that he and Rubio agreed to remain closely engaged on these issues going forward. “Just concluded a good conversation with @SecRubio. Discussed trade, critical minerals, nuclear cooperation, defence and energy,” he said in a post on social media. “Agreed to remain in touch on these and other issues,” he added.
The conversation took place a day after US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor formally assumed charge in New Delhi on Monday. Following the call, Gor indicated that a meeting between the two leaders could take place next month.
In a post on X, Gor said that the leaders “discussed next steps regarding bilateral trade negotiations, critical minerals and a possible meeting next month."
India-US Pax Silica venture
Earlier on Monday, the US envoy had announced that India would be invited to join Pax Silica, a US-led strategic initiative aimed at securing critical supply chains linked to silicon, advanced manufacturing and artificial intelligence.
The initiative is designed to strengthen cooperation among trusted partners.
Rooted in deep collaboration with allied and partner nations, Pax Silica seeks to reduce coercive dependencies, protect materials and capabilities that are foundational to artificial intelligence, and ensure that aligned countries are able to develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative underscores what US officials describe as a new economic security paradigm, driven by a growing consensus that secure supply chains, trusted technologies and strategic infrastructure are essential to national strength and long term economic growth.
