US-led Pax Silica coalition
Why in news?
India has been excluded from the US-led Pax Silica coalition, a new initiative launched in December 2025 to secure silicon supply chains for AI, semiconductors, and critical minerals amid China's export restrictions on rare earths.​
Pax Silica Overview
- Pax Silica unites the US with eight allies—Australia, Israel, Japan, Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, UAE, and UK—to build resilient supply chains from minerals to AI infrastructure.
- The coalition focuses on joint ventures, co-investments, and protecting technologies from adversarial control, responding to China's dominance in 12 of 17 rare earth metals.
- It aims to reduce dependencies and enable scaled deployment of transformative tech.​
India's Exclusion
- India lacks established capabilities in advanced AI, semiconductors, and critical mineral repositories, unlike founding members.
- Despite prior US-India pacts like the 2024 Critical Minerals MoU and iCET framework, India was not invited, possibly due to its nascent role in advanced AI supply chains.
- This occurs amid stalled bilateral trade talks and US expectations for India's support against China, as noted by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
- India remains in the older Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) for critical minerals diversification.
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