External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is in the United States for the Critical Minerals Ministerial hosted by the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. Speaking about his meetings with the US Secretary, the EAM said that the two side reviewed their bilateral cooperation and added that topics such as the Indo-Pacific, West Asia, and Ukraine were discussed.
Speaking further about the meetings, EAM Jaishankar said the discussions ranged from global developments to India-US ties.
“We did a fairly detailed review of our bilateral cooperation. It’s natural when foreign ministers meet that you discuss the diplomatic agenda. Also, the calendar – what do we expect each one of us to do this year together, so a lot of our discussion was devoted to that, the bilateral side. But again, foreign ministers meet, and we talk about our business: the Indo-Pacific, what is happening in West Asia, the Middle East, Gaza, and the Ukraine conflict. There was a kind of global review of what was happening in the Western Hemisphere. In a sense, we discussed the world, we discussed our relationship, and it was a very open sort of forthcoming conversation,” he said.
At the Critical Minerals meet, the EAM underlined India’s support for the FORGE (Forum on Resource, Geostrategic Engagement) initiative.
“I am here to attend the Critical Minerals Ministerial, which was convened by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and a number of countries, nearly 50 countries were here. The meeting is going on today, and it was the principal reason. The discussion was very good. Critical minerals are a very important subject; the US has been a partner for some years. Today, they have launched a new edition – FORGE, which we have supported. It is a successor to the Mineral Security Partnership. To me, it was a productive and outcome-oriented meeting,” the EAM stated.
Meanwhile, earlier during his address to the ministerial, EAM Jaishankar emphasised that “excessive concentration” in critical mineral supply chains poses a major global risk. Furthermore, he called for structured international cooperation to “de-risk” them, as India deepens engagement with the US-led framework on strategic minerals.
Jaishankar’s remarks come as India’s engagement in the US-led critical minerals dialogue marks a decisive shift from strategic intent to industrial execution.
The announcement of dedicated rare earth corridors in India’s 2026 Budget is a particularly important signal, as it reflects a move beyond resource security toward building domestic processing, separation, magnet manufacturing, and downstream capabilities.
India-US trade deal
The EAM’s visit coincides with the agreement between India and the US on a trade deal. The Minister says that a detailed account of the negotiations is now underway.
Speaking to ANI on the sidelines of the Critical Minerals meet in Washington DC EAM Jaishankar said, “It was not with me, because that is being handled by Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal (the negotiations on the trade deal). The Prime Minister and the US President had a conversation; some announcements came out of it. Thereafter, a detailing of the trade negotiations is underway as we speak.”
Earlier, speaking in Parliament, Piyush Goyal, Minister of Commerce and Industry of India, highlighted that both countries have finalised several areas of a bilateral trade agreement following intensive negotiations.
Before this, US President Donald Trump had said that Washington and New Delhi “have agreed to a trade deal” with the US reducing the reciprocal tariff from 25 per cent to 18 per cent.
