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.”
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Cong failed to link farmers to global markets: Chouhan on allegations over India-US trade deal
Bhopal (PTI): Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday hit out at the Congress over its allegations on the India-US trade deal, saying despite ruling for years, it failed to connect farmers to global markets or bring stability to the Indian economy.
The pact provides complete protection to the agriculture sector and keeps farmers' and the national interests paramount, Chouhan said, asserting that key agricultural products vital to cultivators have been excluded from the agreement.
"No product has been included in this agreement that would cause even the slightest harm to Indian farmers," the senior BJP leader said at a press conference at his residence here.
US President Donald Trump on Monday said India and the US have agreed to a trade deal. On his part, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was delighted that "made in India products will now have a reduced tariff of 18 per cent".
The Congress on Saturday claimed that India has not benefited from the trade agreement and that it is "not a deal but a surrender" of the country's self-esteem and interests.
Congress's media and publicity department head Pawan Khera also claimed that India will soon become a dumping ground for American products and it will hurt the interests of the farmers and small and medium industries here.
Rejecting the allegations, Chouhan said Opposition parties were creating unnecessary hue and cry that the agreement would ruin agriculture and devastate farmers.
"Go into the depth of it and see - all those agricultural products which are the core strength of our farmers have been kept out of this agreement. National interest is paramount, farmers' interest is paramount," he asserted.
He noted that Prime Minister Modi had said he would not let the country bow and would not allow any harm to farmers' interests.
"You will see in this trade deal that both these aspects have been fully taken care of," the Union minister said.
He said the Congress ruled the country for years, but neither connected farmers to any global market nor provided stability and growth to the Indian economy.
"On the contrary, at the time of Independence, the Indian economy was the world's sixth largest. It was pushed down to the 11th position. Now we are rapidly moving towards the third position," he pointed out.
Chouhan also stressed that India will not allow the entry of any genetically modified (GM) products, calling it a very big decision.
"This will preserve the purity of Indian agriculture. Our soil and our seeds will remain safe," he maintained.
Chouhan further said no tariff concessions have been given to the US on products such as meat, poultry, dairy, soybean, maize, rice, wheat, sugar, coarse grains, bananas, strawberries, cherries, citrus fruits, green peas, chickpeas, moong, oilseeds, ethanol and tobacco.
He said dehusked grains and flour, potatoes, onions, peas, beans, cucumbers, mushrooms, frozen vegetables, oranges, grapes, lemons and mixed canned vegetables will also not enter India.
Dairy products such as liquid, powdered and condensed milk, cream, yoghurt, buttermilk, butter, ghee, butter oil, paneer, whey products and cheese will also not be allowed entry into India.
Spices, including black pepper, cloves, dried green chillies, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, asafoetida, ginger, turmeric, carom seeds, fenugreek, mustard, rai and other powdered spices, will also not come in, he informed.
This would ensure the livelihoods of Indian farmer families remain secure, the agriculture minister said.
The Congress on Saturday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the interim trade agreement with the US, claiming the deal is against India's interests, and that all the "huglomacy and photo-ops" have not amounted to much.
