US to invite India for Pax Silica to counter China's rare earth mining dominance, secure AI supply chain

New Delhi: President Donald Trump’s administration will next month invite India to join Pax Silica, an initiative led by the United States and supported by eight other nations, to counter China’s dominance in rare earth mining and refining, and to secure the Artificial Intelligence supply chain.

Notwithstanding the strains in ties between New Delhi and Washington, DC, India and the US will also hold another round of negotiations this week.

The Pax Silica was born out of a meeting hosted by the US in Washington, DC, on December 12. Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Israel, Australia, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom joined the US-led initiative during the inaugural conclave itself. India, however, was not invited despite being a member of the Quad, which also included Japan, Australia and the United States and which had been revived during Trump’s first term in the White House to counter China’s expansionist aspirations in the Indo-Pacific region.

Sergio Gor, the newly appointed envoy of Washington, DC, to New Delhi, however, said that the US would invite India to join the Pax Silica next month.

“Pax Silica is a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure, prosperous, and innovation-driven silicon supply chain from critical minerals and energy inputs to advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, AI development, and logistics,” Gor said as he addressed the officials of the US embassy in New Delhi and the media on Monday.

“Nations that joined last month include Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and Israel. Today, I’m pleased to announce that India will be invited to join this group of nations as a full member next month,” he said, adding: “As the world adopts new technology, it is essential that India and the United States work hand-in-hand from the very start of this initiative.”

The Pax Silica, according to the US Department of State, is an initiative intended to respond to increasing risks from “coercive dependencies” and to stress the importance of fair market practices and policy coordination to protect sensitive technologies and critical infrastructure.

As AI represents a transformative force for the long-term prosperity of the US and its partners, the Pax Silica underlined that trustworthy systems were essential for safeguarding mutual security.

Gor has not yet presented his credentials to President Droupadi Murmu, as all the foreign envoys to India do before formally taking over the new diplomatic assignment. He, however, chose to make a departure from the diplomatic protocol and deliver a speech at the US embassy in New Delhi on Monday, apparently to allay apprehensions over the slide in bilateral relations over the past year.

“I’ve travelled all over the world with President Trump, and I can attest that his friendship with Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi is real,” Gor said, adding: “The United States and India are bound not just by shared interests, but by a relationship anchored at the highest levels. Real friends can disagree but always resolve their differences in the end.”

Apart from Trump’s tariff tirade against India, New Delhi’s relations with Washington, DC, came under stress through 2025 over the US president’s public claim about making India stop buying oil from Russia, his growing bonhomie with the civil and military leadership of Pakistan and his claims about mediating the May 10 ceasefire between the two South Asian neighbours.

New Delhi and Washington, DC, are now trying to ease the strains in ties, although the negotiations over a trade deal have not yet reached a breakthrough.

“Many of you have asked me for an update on the ongoing trade deal negotiations. Both sides continue to actively engage. In fact, the next call on trade will occur tomorrow,” the new US ambassador to India said.

“Remember, India is the world’s largest nation, so it’s not an easy task to get this across the finish line, but we are determined to get there. And while trade is very important for our relationship, we will continue to work closely together on other very important areas, such as security, counterterrorism, energy, technology, education, and health.”