US Says India Remains ‘Key Partner’ Despite Not Joining Pax Silica

WASHINGTON, DC-The United States has underlined that India remains a highly strategic potential partner on supply chain security and advanced technologies, even though New Delhi was not part of the inaugural Pax Silica Summit, a new US-led initiative focused on securing the global silicon and semiconductor supply chain.

Speculation linking India’s absence to political tensions with Washington was misplaced and incorrect, Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg told reporters at a news conference organized by the Foreign Press Centre here.

“My understanding is that there was a lot of speculation behind India not participating in the Pax Silica Summit,” Helberg said. “I want to be clear that the conversations between the United States and India pertaining to trade arrangements are a completely separate and parallel track to our discussions on supply chain security. We are not conflating those two things.”

Helberg added that the US views India as a highly strategic potential partner on supply chain security-related efforts and welcomes the opportunity to engage with them.

The Pax Silica initiative, launched last week, brings together an initial group of countries closely linked to semiconductor manufacturing and advanced technology supply chains, including Singapore, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and the United Kingdom. The framework is designed to reduce single points of failure in global supply chains that underpin industries ranging from smartphones and automobiles to artificial intelligence.

On India specifically, Helberg stressed that engagement with New Delhi was ongoing and active. He noted he is in nearly daily communication with interlocutors in Delhi, adding that Washington was actively determining ways of deepening that collaboration quickly.

He also pointed to an upcoming opportunity for high-level engagement, noting that he would attend the ‘India AI Impact Summit’ in February. 

Helberg said Washington plans to very much deepen bilateral collaboration between the United States and India on economic security matters, and suggested that Indian participation in future Pax Silica-related efforts remained a real possibility.

Earlier in the briefing, Helberg explained that the initial group of Pax Silica countries was deliberately limited to those forming the nucleus of semiconductor manufacturing, such as Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and the Netherlands, before expanding further down the supply chain to areas like critical minerals. (IANS)