The United States and India have held high-level talks in Washington focused on critical minerals cooperation, trade and strategic ties.
The talks were held late on Tuesday against the backdrop of a recently finalised bilateral trade deal that has drawn attention across the region.
Diplomatic observers in Washington, however, maintain that the agreement is unlikely to affect recently improved bilateral ties between Pakistan and the US, as those are not linked to India.
The observers note that recent developments in the greater Middle East, as well as in South and Central Asia, have further enhanced Pakistan’s relevance as a key regional player in Washington’s strategic calculus.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar during the latter’s three-day official visit to the United States, as both sides moved to deepen economic and strategic coordination in the Indo-Pacific.
According to the US State Department readout, Secretary Rubio and Minister Jaishankar discussed “formalising bilateral cooperation on critical minerals exploration, mining, and processing”, an area of growing importance amid global supply chain realignments and competition over energy transition resources.
The meeting came ahead of the inaugural critical minerals ministerial scheduled for Wednesday and followed the conclusion of a long-pending trade agreement between Washington and New Delhi. Under the deal, the US has agreed to reduce tariffs on Indian goods to 18 per cent after nearly a year of negotiations.
“Secretary Rubio and Minister Jaishankar welcomed the trade deal reached between President Trump and Prime Minister Modi,” the US statement said, adding that the two leaders “emphasised the importance of our democracies working together to unlock new economic opportunities and advance our shared energy security goals”.
In a post on social media, Secretary Rubio said: “Met Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar to discuss our bilateral cooperation on critical minerals exploration and work together to unlock new economic opportunities between our two countries. We also commended the trade deal between the United States and India.”
