Washington, DC [US], February 3 (ANI): The United States will host the inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial at the State Department on Wednesday, convened by Senator Marco Rubio, as delegations from more than 50 countries meet to strengthen cooperation on securing and diversifying global critical mineral supply chains. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will attend the ministerial and is scheduled for a one-on-one with Secretary Rubio on Tuesday.
The three-day meeting is intended to bolster strategic supply lines for minerals considered essential to technological innovation, economic competitiveness and national security, the US State Department said. The department described the gathering as “historic,” saying it will build momentum for international collaboration to secure components vital to technological progress, economic strength and national security, and aims to enhance coordination for resilient supply chains.
The ministerial comes as India-US engagement intensifies across trade, energy and strategic sectors. In a parallel development, US President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with India on Monday after months of tariff-related tensions. Those tensions followed Washington’s imposition of 50 percent duties on Indian goods in August 2025, with half of that penalty tied to India’s crude oil purchases from Russia.
Confirming the agreement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X that he had spoken with President Trump and welcomed a reduced US tariff of 18% on Made-in-India products, thanking Trump “on behalf of the 1.4 billion people of India.” Modi said closer cooperation between the two large democracies will create mutual opportunities and he looked forward to deeper partnership.
On his platform, Trump described Modi as a close friend and said the two leaders discussed trade and ending the war in Ukraine. Trump said India agreed to stop buying Russian oil and to increase purchases from the United States and potentially Venezuela. He added that, by mutual agreement, the United States will lower its reciprocal tariff from 25% to 18%, while India will move to reduce its tariffs and non-tariff barriers against US goods to zero. Trump also outlined commitments for India to “buy American” more extensively and referenced over $500 billion in US energy, technology, agricultural and other sales.
Against this backdrop, Jaishankar’s US visit from February 2–4 will include discussions at the Critical Minerals Ministerial on supply chain resilience, clean energy transitions and strategic cooperation on critical minerals, along with meetings with senior US officials.
The State Department said partners worldwide are being gathered to strengthen cooperation on critical mineral supply chains, noting such collaboration is vital to US economic and national security, technological leadership and energy transition.
Earlier this month, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent convened a Finance Ministerial in Washington to explore ways to strengthen and diversify critical mineral supply chains, with a focus on rare-earth elements. That meeting included senior officials from Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and the United Kingdom; India was represented by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
India-US engagement has also continued on defence issues. A US Congressional delegation led by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, together with US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti, met Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh on January 27 to discuss deepening defence industry collaboration and advancing bilateral military ties, including the recently concluded 10-year Major Defence Partnership Framework Agreement. (ANI)
(This content is sourced from a syndicated feed and is published as received. The Tribune assumes no responsibility or liability for its accuracy, completeness, or content.)
