Highlights:
The United States views India as a 'highly strategic potential partner' in efforts to secure global supply chains, a senior State Department official said on Wednesday (17), despite New Delhi's absence from a newly launched US-led initiative aimed at safeguarding the silicon and semiconductor ecosystem.
Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg told reporters at a Foreign Press Center briefing that Washington is holding ongoing discussions with India to deepen cooperation on economic and supply chain security.
The comments come days after the US unveiled Pax Silica, a strategic framework designed to strengthen supply chains critical to semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and advanced manufacturing. The initial group includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Australia but not India.
Helberg pushed back against speculation that India's exclusion was linked to political or trade tensions between Washington and New Delhi.
“I want to be clear that the conversations between the United States and India pertaining to trade arrangements are completely separate from our discussions on supply chain security,” Helberg said. “We view India as a highly strategic potential partner, and we welcome the opportunity to engage with them.”
He said he is in “nearly daily communication” with Indian counterparts and that both sides are working to deepen collaboration quickly. Helberg added that he plans to attend the India AI Impact Summit in February, which he said could help identify concrete milestones for cooperation.
Pax Silica focuses on securing what Helberg described as the “lifeblood” of modern technologies, from automobiles and smartphones to artificial intelligence systems. U.S. officials said the initiative initially prioritized countries central to semiconductor manufacturing, with plans to expand participation in 2026.
The State Department said Pax Silica aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect materials critical to AI development, and enable trusted partners to deploy advanced technologies at scale.
