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USIBC welcomes India-US critical minerals pact
The business council highlighted opportunities in energy security, critical minerals, digital infrastructure, and defense cooperation following Quad discussions in New Delhi.
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Malvika Choudhary - Wed, 27, May 2026
- 15:23 EDT
- 62
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Official logo / USIBC
The U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) welcomed the signing of the U.S.-India Framework on Critical Minerals and Rare Earths during U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to India, calling it a major boost to bilateral commercial and strategic cooperation.
The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi, where India, the United States, Japan, and Australia announced initiatives focused on critical minerals, maritime security, energy resilience, and Indo-Pacific infrastructure.
Also Read: Quad’s Key Challenges: Chinese Aggression, Strategic Incoherence, Leadership Vacuum
USIBC said the framework would create pathways for investment, off-take agreements, co-development, and technology partnerships across mining, processing, and rare earth magnet value chains. It added that the Quad’s Critical Minerals Framework announced during the meeting strengthened broader multilateral cooperation supporting secure supply chains.
— U.S.-India Business Council (@USIBC) May 27, 2026
The U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) appreciates the signing of the U.S.-India Framework on Critical Minerals and Rare Earths during Secretary of State Marco Rubio's visit to India.
The Framework creates… pic.twitter.com/iaVy9bBVUk
The development comes amid growing concerns over China’s dominance in critical minerals and rare earth exports, which are critical for clean energy technologies, semiconductors, electric vehicles, and defense manufacturing.
The business council said discussions among Quad partners also focused on energy security, supply chain resilience, maritime connectivity, and strategic technologies across the Indo-Pacific region.
USIBC said disruptions to key maritime trade routes, including through the Strait of Hormuz, had increased fuel and fertilizer price volatility across the Indo-Pacific, making the launch of the Quad Fuel Security Forum and the Quad Initiative on Indo-Pacific Energy Security “timely and consequential.”
The council said India’s position as one of the world’s largest crude importers and an emerging clean energy hub made it a key partner for U.S. companies looking to invest in regional energy resilience.
The organization also welcomed cooperation among Quad countries on trusted digital infrastructure, undersea cable connectivity, maritime surveillance, next-generation communications standards, “Ports of the Future,” and pharmaceutical and bio-manufacturing supply chain resilience, including regional port infrastructure projects such as a proposed initiative in Fiji.
“These week’s announcements on energy security, critical minerals, and maritime ports demonstrate there is a lot of life and logic to the Quad and hosting the meeting in New Delhi, capping off Secretary Rubio’s landmark visit, reinforces India’s role as a vital global partner,” said USIBC president Ambassador (ret.) Atul Keshap.
USIBC further said it sees commercial opportunities in the TRUST framework for strategic technology cooperation, civilian nuclear power and data centers, defense co-production, and efforts toward a bilateral trade framework between India and the United States.
Rubio’s four-day India visit also included bilateral discussions with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on trade, defense, nuclear energy, critical technologies, and supply chain cooperation, as Washington and New Delhi seek to strengthen ties amid broader Indo-Pacific strategic competition.
The council said it would work with industry partners to support implementation of the announced frameworks and expand avenues for trade, investment, and commercial cooperation between the two countries.
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