Jaishankar heads to US for critical minerals meet: Pakistan reportedly not invited to Feb 4 talks

External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar will begin a three-day visit to the United States from today, with a key focus on participating in a high-level ministerial meeting on critical minerals convened by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on February 4.

The Ministry of External Affairs said the ministerial meeting will focus on “supply chain resilience, clean energy transitions, and strategic cooperation in critical minerals”, and that Jaishankar will also hold meetings with senior members of the US administration during the trip.

The Washington meeting is expected to bring together representatives of G7 countries, including the UK, Japan, Germany and Italy, along with mineral-rich nations such as Congo, Guinea and Kenya, as part of efforts to enhance multilateral cooperation and investments in alternative supply chains for rare earth minerals.

People familiar with the matter said India is also expected to join Pax Silica, described as the flagship US initiative to build a secure global supply chain for semiconductors and AI technology.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has not been invited to the Global Minerals Conference on February 4 in Washington, according to pak media reports, even as Jaishankar is set to attend.

The development has drawn attention in Islamabad, especially after Pakistan’s recent outreach efforts around rare earth minerals. Last year, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Asim Munir personally presented a box of rare earths to Donald Trump at the White House, signalling Pakistan’s eagerness to position itself as a player in the global minerals market.

This is the second critical minerals meeting convened by the US this year. In January, a meeting of finance ministers of G7 member states and other partners convened by treasury secretary Scott Bessent reached an agreement on stepping up efforts to reduce dependency on China for rare earths. India was represented at that meeting by Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

The US state department has said that strengthening critical mineral supply chains with partners is “vital to America’s economic and national security”.

Jaishankar’s visit is also being closely watched for signs of movement in India-US ties after months of strain linked to trade frictions under President Donald Trump’s administration. The relationship has faced headwinds after the US imposed 50% tariffs, including a 25% punitive levy over Russian energy purchases, on Indian goods.

Talks on a proposed bilateral trade agreement have continued, with Indian officials saying the two sides have made “very significant” progress and that New Delhi remains hopeful of a “positive outcome”.s