India and US to deepen critical minerals ties

Asheville, Sep 1 (IANS) India and the United States have agreed to deepen cooperation on critical minerals as part of their long-standing economic relationship, following talks between Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. 

The two officials met on the sidelines of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, on Monday.

The meeting placed critical minerals and secure supply chains at the centre of the India-US economic dialogue. Both sides acknowledged the long-standing relationship between the two countries and committed themselves to expanding cooperation across several areas.

Sitharaman invited Bessent to visit New Delhi later this year for the India-US Economic and Financial Partnership meeting.

The proposed visit would provide the two governments another opportunity to review economic and financial cooperation and identify areas in which the partnership could be expanded.

According to India’s Ministry of Finance, Bessent appreciated India’s role in the G7 Plus framework. He also welcomed India’s participation in G7-led dialogues on critical minerals.

Those discussions are aimed at securing supply chains and sharing research and technology, the ministry said.

Critical minerals have become an important part of economic and strategic discussions among major economies. The Asheville meeting provided India and the US an opportunity to connect that issue with their wider financial and economic partnership.

The Sitharaman-Bessent meeting also underlined the importance both governments attach to maintaining regular high-level contact on economic matters.

Their discussions came as finance ministers and central bank governors gathered in Asheville to consider global economic challenges and ways to strengthen growth and financial cooperation.

For India, participation in critical mineral dialogues offers an avenue to work with major economies on supply-chain security, research and technology. For the US, India’s participation adds a major economy and a significant emerging market to efforts involving these strategically important resources.

The invitation to Bessent also signalled that the Economic and Financial Partnership would remain an important channel for engagement between New Delhi and Washington.

The mechanism allows the two countries to discuss a broad range of economic and financial issues at the ministerial level. The proposed meeting in New Delhi later this year would continue those consultations after the Asheville talks.

The Finance Ministry did not provide a date for the New Delhi meeting. It also did not disclose further details about the specific critical mineral initiatives that the two countries may pursue.

Critical minerals are used in a range of industries, including clean energy, electronics, telecommunications, defence manufacturing and advanced technologies. Governments have increasingly focused on diversifying their sources and reducing the risk of disruptions caused by concentrated supply chains.

--IANS

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