{"id":105281,"date":"2026-05-27T11:27:43","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T05:57:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=105281"},"modified":"2026-05-27T11:27:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T05:57:43","slug":"india-us-critical-minerals-framework","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/india-us-critical-minerals-framework\/","title":{"rendered":"India-US Critical Minerals Framework: Strengthening Strategic Supply Chain Cooperation"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>India-US Critical Minerals Framework Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the sidelines of the 11th Quad Foreign Ministers&#8217; Meeting (FMM), India and the United States signed the bilateral India-US Critical Minerals Framework \u2014 formally titled &#8220;<\/span><b><i>Securing of Supply in the Mining and Processing of Critical Minerals and Rare Earths\u201d<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>What Triggered This Framework \u2014 China&#8217;s Export Controls<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The immediate trigger for the framework was China&#8217;s imposition of a licensing regime on rare earth element exports in 2025 \u2014 effectively choking global supplies during its trade war with the US.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This directly impacted Indian industry, which began facing shortages of rare earth magnets late last year.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The strategic context is stark \u2014 China controls 90% of global critical mineral processing, giving it enormous leverage over global technology supply chains.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India is <\/span><b>100% import-dependent<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for key <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/critical-minerals\/\" target=\"_blank\"><b>critical minerals<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> including cobalt, lithium, nickel, rare earth elements (REEs), and silicon \u2014 with little domestic processing capacity.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Key Objectives of the India-US Framework<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The bilateral framework seeks to:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deepen cooperation across the entire critical minerals and rare earths supply chain \u2014 covering mining, processing, recycling, and related investments.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Strengthen resilient and diversified supply chains \u2014 reducing dependence on China.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Promote collaboration in financing and effective management of critical minerals and rare earths scrap.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Accelerate R&amp;D collaboration and promote investment across the entire critical mineral value chain.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Align domestic laws and regulations of both countries to facilitate easier supply chain access.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tighten controls to address national security requirements.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Building Blocks \u2014 The Journey So Far<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The India-US Critical Minerals Framework did not emerge overnight. It is the culmination of a series of engagements:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">February 2025 \u2014 Secure supply routes for critical minerals were identified as a &#8220;shared strategic priority&#8221; under the India-US <\/span><b>TRUST<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Transforming the Relationship Utilising Strategic Technology) initiative.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"3\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>Strategic Mineral Recovery Initiative<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> was also launched \u2014 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.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">February 2026 \u2014 India became a signatory to the <\/span><b>US-led Pax Silica initiative<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 a Washington-led grouping to counter China&#8217;s dominance in new-age sectors including AI and critical minerals.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">May 2026 \u2014 Signing of the bilateral India-US Critical Minerals Framework and the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative Framework.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Other Related Initiatives<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement (FORGE)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 India and the US are also partnering under this initiative for resource security cooperation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Mineral Security Partnership (MSP)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 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.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>India&#8217;s Regulatory Push \u2014 FDI Policy Changes<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To complement the international frameworks and attract strategic investment, India announced calibrated changes in FDI policy for Land Bordering Countries (LBCs) in March 2026 \u2014 through Press Note 3 (PN3).\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Investment applications from LBCs in &#8220;specified sectors&#8221; \u2014 including capital goods, electronic components, polysilicon, ingot-wafer, and rare earth magnets \u2014 shall now be processed and decided within 60 days, fast-tracking decisions on strategically important investments.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>The Investment Challenge<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite these frameworks, the actual investment picture remains challenging.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India&#8217;s gross FDI rose to a record $94.53 billion in 2025-26 but net FDI was a mere $7.65 billion \u2014 largely due to high repatriation by foreign companies.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Foreign capital has exited India in large volumes since the West Asia war began \u2014 $13.6 billion in March, $7.56 billion in April, and $2.62 billion in May \u2014 creating a difficult environment for attracting the long-term investment that critical mineral supply chain development requires.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The India-US Critical Minerals Framework represents a significant deepening of the India-US strategic technology partnership \u2014 moving from declarations to operational frameworks for supply chain security.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It reflects India&#8217;s recognition that critical mineral security is inseparable from economic security, technological sovereignty, and defence preparedness.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The framework&#8217;s alignment with the Quad multilateral architecture also signals that critical mineral security is becoming a central pillar of the Indo-Pacific strategic order \u2014 with China&#8217;s dominance as the exp<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India-US Critical Minerals Framework aims to secure resilient supply chains, reduce import dependence, and strengthen strategic cooperation in critical technologies and clean energy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":105303,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[7756,60,22,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-105281","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-india-us-critical-minerals-framework","9":"tag-mains-articles","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs-tag","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105281"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105285,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105281\/revisions\/105285"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}