India and the United States have signed a major agreement focused on critical minerals and rare earth elements, marking another step in Washington’s efforts to diversify global supply chains away from China.
The framework agreement was finalised in New Delhi during talks between Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The deal aims to deepen cooperation in mining, processing, recycling, and investment related to critical minerals - resources considered essential for modern technologies, semiconductors, electric vehicles, renewable energy systems, and defence equipment.
Critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, and rare earth elements are vital for manufacturing batteries, AI technologies, electronics, and military hardware. Currently, China dominates the global rare earth market, controlling most mining and nearly 90 percent of processing capacity worldwide.
The new India-US framework seeks to reduce dependence on single-country supply chains and strengthen secure access to strategic minerals.
India has identified 30 critical minerals as strategically important and is planning to expand mining and processing infrastructure through new “rare earth corridors” in states including Odisha, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.
Alongside the bilateral deal, Quad nations - India, the US, Japan, and Australia - also announced a broader critical minerals initiative. The partnership plans to mobilise up to $20 billion through public and private investments to strengthen mineral supply chains and encourage recycling and advanced processing technologies.
Experts say the agreements highlight growing global competition over critical minerals, which are increasingly seen as central to economic security, technological development, and geopolitical influence.
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