India-US Critical Minerals Framework: Strengthening Strategic Supply Chain Cooperation

India-US Critical Minerals Framework Latest News

• On the sidelines of the 11th Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (FMM), India and the United States signed the bilateral India-US Critical Minerals Framework — formally titled “Securing of Supply in the Mining and Processing of Critical Minerals and Rare Earths”.

What Triggered This Framework — China’s Export Controls

• The immediate trigger for the framework was China’s imposition of a licensing regime on rare earth element exports in 2025 — effectively choking global supplies during its trade war with the US. 
• This directly impacted Indian industry, which began facing shortages of rare earth magnets late last year. 
• The strategic context is stark — China controls 90% of global critical mineral processing, giving it enormous leverage over global technology supply chains. 
• India is 100% import-dependent for key critical minerals including cobalt, lithium, nickel, rare earth elements (REEs), and silicon — with little domestic processing capacity.

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Key Objectives of the India-US Framework

• The bilateral framework seeks to:
  • Deepen cooperation across the entire critical minerals and rare earths supply chain — covering mining, processing, recycling, and related investments.
  • Strengthen resilient and diversified supply chains — reducing dependence on China.
  • Promote collaboration in financing and effective management of critical minerals and rare earths scrap.
  • Accelerate R&D collaboration and promote investment across the entire critical mineral value chain.
  • Align domestic laws and regulations of both countries to facilitate easier supply chain access.
  • Tighten controls to address national security requirements.

Building Blocks — The Journey So Far

• The India-US Critical Minerals Framework did not emerge overnight. It is the culmination of a series of engagements:
  • February 2025 — Secure supply routes for critical minerals were identified as a “shared strategic priority” under the India-US TRUST (Transforming the Relationship Utilising Strategic Technology) initiative. 
    • The Strategic Mineral Recovery Initiative was also launched — a US-India programme to recover and process critical minerals (including lithium, cobalt, and rare earths) from heavy industries like aluminium, coal mining, and oil and gas.
  • February 2026 — India became a signatory to the US-led Pax Silica initiative — a Washington-led grouping to counter China’s dominance in new-age sectors including AI and critical minerals.
  • May 2026 — Signing of the bilateral India-US Critical Minerals Framework and the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative Framework.

Other Related Initiatives

• Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement (FORGE) — India and the US are also partnering under this initiative for resource security cooperation.
• Mineral Security Partnership (MSP) — Both India and the US are members of this US-led grouping that aims to catalyse public and private investment in critical mineral supply chains globally.

India’s Regulatory Push — FDI Policy Changes

• To complement the international frameworks and attract strategic investment, India announced calibrated changes in FDI policy for Land Bordering Countries (LBCs) in March 2026 — through Press Note 3 (PN3). 
• Investment applications from LBCs in “specified sectors” — including capital goods, electronic components, polysilicon, ingot-wafer, and rare earth magnets — shall now be processed and decided within 60 days, fast-tracking decisions on strategically important investments.

The Investment Challenge

• Despite these frameworks, the actual investment picture remains challenging. 
• India’s gross FDI rose to a record $94.53 billion in 2025-26 but net FDI was a mere $7.65 billion — largely due to high repatriation by foreign companies. 
• Foreign capital has exited India in large volumes since the West Asia war began — $13.6 billion in March, $7.56 billion in April, and $2.62 billion in May — creating a difficult environment for attracting the long-term investment that critical mineral supply chain development requires.

Conclusion

• The India-US Critical Minerals Framework represents a significant deepening of the India-US strategic technology partnership — moving from declarations to operational frameworks for supply chain security. 
• It reflects India’s recognition that critical mineral security is inseparable from economic security, technological sovereignty, and defence preparedness. 
• The framework’s alignment with the Quad multilateral architecture also signals that critical mineral security is becoming a central pillar of the Indo-Pacific strategic order — with China’s dominance as the exp