Very excited to invite India to join Pax Silica, says top US official
New York (PTI): The US has said it is “very excited” to have extended an invitation to India to join the Pax Silica initiative on supply chain security and will be soon signing with the Indian Government, underlining there is “very positive momentum” in relations with New Delhi.
Highlighting the "great relationship" between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Washington also stressed that India is probably the only other country on Earth to be able to "rival China" in terms of the sheer volume of its human talent.
“We are very excited to have extended an invitation for India to join" Pax Silica, and “I’ll be travelling to India in just a couple weeks for a major signing with the Indian Government,” Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg told reporters on Friday.
The US had last year in December launched ‘Pax Silica’, a strategic initiative to build a secure, prosperous, and innovation driven silicon supply chain—from critical minerals and energy inputs to advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, AI infrastructure, and logistics.
The signatories are Australia, Greece, Israel, Japan, Qatar, South Korea, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. India was not included in the initial group of countries for the Pax Silica initiative.
Helberg added that while the Pax Silica was launched in December, and by January, the US had “already had a meeting of the minds” around India joining Pax Silica.
“And so we’re very pleased at the pace at which things have been moving in a very positive direction with our partners in India,” Helberg said during a briefing organised by the Washington Foreign Press Centre on the Critical Minerals Ministerial that the US hosted last week.
“India is also home to a large – very large mining and processing operations, which obviously holds great promise to make significant contributions to the supply chain ecosystem. And so there’s a lot of terrain in which we will be able to partner on with India,” he said.
Helberg further pointed out that outside of China, "India is probably the only other country on Earth to be able to rival China with respect to the breadth and depth of the sheer volume of young, technically trained talent, human talent.”
“We view India very positively, and President Trump has a great relationship with (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi,” he added.
Helberg also said that “we’re very excited and very proud about the bilateral trade deal being concluded with India.”
Helberg’s comment about the trade deal came just hours before India and the US issued a joint statement announcing that the two sides have reached a framework for an Interim Agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade.
Under the agreement, India will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of US food and agricultural products, including dried distillers’ grains, red sorghum for animal feed, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, soybean oil, wine and spirits, and additional products.
According to the joint statement, the US will reduce tariffs on Indian goods to 18 per cent. US President Donald Trump also issued an Executive Order removing the punitive 25 per cent tariffs imposed on India for its purchases of Russian oil.
Helberg further said that India and the United States are two very large countries, with America by far the world’s largest economy and India the world’s largest country demographically and a very young country, very fast-growing economy.
“So for us to align on things, it takes a little bit more work because of the sheer size of our countries,” he said, responding to a question on the role the US envisages for India in Pax Silica and why the country was not initially included in the initiative.
During the briefing, Helberg spoke about the inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial meeting hosted in Washington on February 4 by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The ministerial brought together 55 delegations to explore ways to diversify and secure global critical minerals supply chains.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar participated in the ministerial and, in his remarks, “underlined challenges of excessive concentration and the importance of de-risking supply chains through structured international cooperation.”
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Deepika Kumari leads Indian recurve archery team to dramatic World Cup gold
Shanghai (PTI): The Indian trio of Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat and teenager Kumkum Mohod held their nerve in a tense shoot-off to beat home favourites China and clinch the women's recurve team gold medal at the Archery World Cup Stage 2 here on Sunday.
In a final marked by fluctuating fortunes, India edged past the home side 5-4 (28-26) in the shoot-off after the four-set regulation ended 4-4.
The victory was especially sweeter as India had earlier stunned record 10-time Olympic champions South Korea in the semifinals en route to their first World Cup women's team gold since 2021.
Deepika, who was also part of India's World Cup-winning teams in Guatemala City and Paris in 2021, now has seven World Cup team gold medals to her name since 2010.
It was also the Indian women recurve team's first World Cup medal in three years, its previous podium finish coming in Stage 4 in Paris in 2023 where Ankita was a member of the winning team.
India's campaign in Shanghai has thus already yielded two medals after compound archer Sahil Jadhav opened the country's account, securing a bronze on Saturday.
India also remained in contention for another podium finish later in the day with recurve archer Simranjeet Kaur set to compete in the semifinals. She is a win away from her maiden individual World Cup medal.
Travelling without a full-time national coach amid the continuing impasse over appointments, it was the vastly experienced Deepika who led from the front, constantly motivating her teammates during breaks and changeovers.
Prafull Dange, who was the designated women's recurve coach after his ward Kumkum topped the national trials, largely remained in the background as Deepika guided the side through the pressure moments against a hostile home crowd and vocal Chinese support staff.
Against a young Chinese side comprising Zhu Jingyi, Huang Yuwei and teenage archer Yu Qi, who all made their World Cup debuts only last year, India looked in control initially but nearly let the match slip after taking the opening set (54-53).
Shooting last in the Indian order, Deepika set the tone with successive 10s as India edged the first set despite Ankita (8-8) and 17-year-old Kumkum (10-8) putting up an inconsistent show.
Deepika continued her fine rhythm in the second set with another perfect 10 as India briefly held a one-point advantage (28-27) midway through the end. But China responded strongly with two 9s and a 10 in their final three arrows of the second set to post 55.
Ankita replied with a 9, but Kumkum managed only an 8, leaving Deepika needing a 10 to level the set.
The four-time Olympian, however, slipped to a 7 as India lost the set 52-55 and China drew level at 2-2.
The hosts then moved ahead in the third set. The teams were initially tied at 56, but a review upgraded China's final arrow from 8 to 9, handing them the set 57-56 and a 4-2 lead.
India appeared on the verge of defeat in the fourth set despite Deepika rediscovering her touch with two 10s. Kumkum's final arrow landed in the 7-ring as India posted a modest 54.
China required two 10s and a 9 from their last three arrows to seal the match.
Zhu and Huang delivered perfect 10s, leaving 18-year-old Yu Qi needing a 9 for victory in front of the home crowd.
But the youngster shot an 8, allowing India a dramatic escape and forcing a shoot-off.
The Indians peaked at the right moment in the decider. Ankita opened with a 9, Kumkum followed with a superb 10, and Deepika calmly delivered a 9 when only an 8 was needed to seal the title.
