India joins US-led Pax Silica

India on Friday joined the Pax Silica initiative, which is an effort by the US on artificial intelligence (AI), to build reliable supply chain security of critical minerals to reduce dependence on China, and to advance “new economic security consensus among allies and trusted partners” of America.

- ARCHIS MOHAN

At a special event held on the margins of the India AI Impact Summit here, India became the 12th signatory to the Pax Silica Declaration, which, other than the US, also includes Japan, Australia, the UK, South Korea, Israel, and the Netherlands.

At the event, US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit India in the next few months. He said that the India-US trade deal is set to be inked soon. Gor also described the Quad coalition as an important grouping for cooperation among its member states.

Pax Silica was launched in December to build a secure, resilient, and innovation-driven supply chain for critical minerals and AI. The Pax Silica Summit was held in Washington on December 12 last year where partner nations signed the Pax Silica Declaration. India was not one of the original signatories.