EAM Jaishankar Highlights Need for Global Cooperation on Critical Minerals at Inaugural Ministerial

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has underlined the challenges of excessive concentration of critical minerals and the importance of de-risking supply chains through structured international cooperation. Addressing the inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial convened by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, DC last night, Dr Jaishankar also conveyed India’s support to the FORGE initiative on critical minerals. He said this in a post on X. In his address, he also highlighted India’s efforts towards greater resilience through initiatives including the National Critical Minerals Mission, Rare Earth Corridors and responsible commerce.

His remarks came as US Vice President J.D. Vance invited allies and partners to work together to reshape the global critical minerals market. Vance said modern economies still depended on real things and that critical minerals were as essential as oil and gas. 

Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio highlighted the importance of economic security through critical minerals and the need for allies to come together not only to rectify the mistakes of the past but to pool in collective talent and innovation to ensure diversity and affordability in supply chains. 

Before the start of the ministerial meet, Dr Jaishankar met with several global counterparts, including Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand and Singapore’s Vivian Balakrishnan. He also interacted with his counterparts from the Netherlands, Italy, Malaysia, Bahrain, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, Israel and Uzbekistan.

The United States hosted the inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial in Washington DC, bringing together delegations from over 50 countries to advance collaboration on securing and diversifying global critical mineral supply chains.