Ashwini Vaishnaw likely to attend US critical minerals meet amid China’s supply-chain weaponisation

New Delhi: India is likely to be represented by minister of electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw at a key meet on critical minerals that the US is organising on Monday, amid weaponisation of the key raw material's supply chain by China.

In a move that signals US willingness to engage India in the initiative, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on Saturday that Australia, India and several other countries would join a meeting of finance ministers from the Group of Seven advanced economies that he is hosting in Washington on Monday to discuss the initiative.

Bessent told reporters he had been pressing for a separate meetingAmid weaponisation of supply chain by Chinaon the issue since last summer's summit of G7 leaders, and finance ministers had already held a virtual meeting in December.

Vaishnaw is likely to represent India at Monday's meeting, said people with knowledge of the matter.

India will also join the Pax Silica initiative led by the US ahead of the artificial intelligence summit that New Delhi is hosting, the people said.

Pak Connection
India will also take part in another meet on critical minerals in the US ahead of the Artificial Intelligence Impact Summit to be held in New Delhi on February 19 and 20.

India, despite being part of the Quad Critical Minerals initiative, was initially not part of Pax Silica, which comprised the US, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the UK, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Australia.

Notably, the US has a separate critical minerals initiative with Pakistan that has contributed to political ties between them to India’s discomfort.

In December, the US Export-Import Bank approved financing of $1.25 billion to support the mining of critical minerals at Reko Diq in Pakistan. In the coming years, EXIM project financing will bring in up to $2 billion in top-tier US mining equipment and services needed to build and operate the Reko Diq mine, along with creating an estimated 6,000 jobs in the US and 7,500 jobs in Balochistan, according to the US embassy in Pakistan.

India's critical minerals and rare earths initiative centres around the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM), launched in 2025, to secure strategic supply chains for sectors such as clean energy and defence, reducing import dependence.

Under the NCMM mission, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) has intensified its exploration programmes.

In the 2024-25 field season, the GSI has taken up 195 projects, including 35 in Rajasthan, focused on identifying and assessing critical mineral deposits.

DOMESTIC MINING PUSH
The mission seeks to minimise import dependency by enhancing domestic exploration and mining efforts. More than 100 critical mineral blocks are set to be auctioned, and exploration will be expanded to offshore regions rich in polymetallic nodules containing cobalt, rare earth elements (REEs), nickel and manganese.

The government has also approved a ₹7,280 crore programme to establish a domestic integrated Rare Earth Permanent Magnet (REPM) manufacturing ecosystem.

India and Russia are also intensifying efforts to develop joint projects in critical minerals and rare earths amid Moscow’s efforts to diversify partners in this segment.

The world relies heavily on China for materials such as rare earths, lithium, cobalt, graphite and copper — key inputs for defence technologies, semiconductors, renewable energy equipment and batteries. China dominates the critical minerals supply chain, refining between 47% and 87% of copper, lithium, cobalt, graphite and rare earths, as per the International Energy Agency. Several nations are seeking to diversify supply chains amid China looking to take advantage of its strengths by putting the squeeze on supplies.

Last October, Australia signed an agreement with the US to develop a strategic critical minerals reserve and supply pipeline valued at $8.5 billion. This, according to Canberra, has aroused interest elsewhere. The Trump administration is eyeing rare earth and critical mineral mines in various parts of the world.