External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio “welcomed” the trade deal reached between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed formalising cooperation on critical minerals exploration and mining during their meeting in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.
Rubio held bilateral talks with Jaishankar at the State Department ahead of the inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial convened by the US. Jaishankar, who is on a visit to the United States from February 2–4, posted on X that they had a “wide-ranging conversation” covering bilateral cooperation, regional and global issues.
“Facets of India-US Strategic Partnership discussed included trade, energy, nuclear, defence, critical minerals and technology. Agreed on the early meetings of various mechanisms to advance our shared interests,” Jaishankar wrote.
A State Department readout by Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said Rubio and Jaishankar “welcomed the trade deal reached between President Trump and Prime Minister Modi. The two leaders emphasised the importance of our democracies working together to unlock new economic opportunities and advance our shared energy security goals.” Pigott added that they “discussed formalising bilateral cooperation on critical minerals exploration, mining and processing.”
The two leaders also “concluded their meeting by expressing their commitment to expanding bilateral and multilateral cooperation through the Quad,” the readout said, noting that a prosperous Indo-Pacific is vital to shared interests.
Rubio posted on X that he met Jaishankar to “discuss our bilateral cooperation on critical minerals exploration and work together to unlock new economic opportunities between our two countries. We also commended the trade deal between the United States and India.”
The meeting followed Trump’s announcement on Truth Social that India and the US agreed to a trade deal under which Washington would reduce the reciprocal tariff on India from 25% to 18%.
At the inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial, the US will host delegations to advance collective efforts to strengthen and diversify critical minerals supply chains, which are key to technological innovation, economic strength, and national security. US Vice President J.D. Vance, Rubio, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Global Supply Chains David Copley, and Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg are scheduled to deliver opening remarks.
During his visit, Jaishankar will also hold meetings with senior members of the US administration, the Ministry of External Affairs said.
