New Delhi, Jan 28 (.) External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar is likely to travel to the United States next week.
It is being contemplated that he will be attending the Critical Minerals Ministerial, hosted by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, D.C., on February 4.
US Ambassador Sergio Gor had assured that India would be invited to join the US’s eight-nation Pax Silica “Silicon supply chain” next month, promising that the two countries also hoped to make progress on long-delayed trade negotiations, following months of tensions over trade, tariffs, and India’s import of Russian oil.
“The United States and India are bound not just by shared interests, but by a relationship anchored at the highest levels,” Gor said during his “arrival speech” at January 12, 2026.
“Remember, India is the world’s largest democracy, so it’s not an easy task to get this across the finish line, but we are determined to get there,” he said, also announcing the plan to induct India into the “Pax Silica” arrangement to cooperate on semiconductors, critical minerals, and Artificial Intelligence in February.
India was not included in the original launch of Pax Silica in Washington in December, although fellow Quad members Japan and Australia, I2U2 countries Israel and UAE, and others, including South Korea, Singapore, the U.K., and the Netherlands, were invited.
“Real friends can disagree but always resolve their differences in the end,” he added.
He noted that the two sides “continue to actively engage” over the trade deal initially launched nearly a year ago during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington.
The US imposed 50 pc tariffs on Indian goods and has since seen six official rounds of negotiations and three visits to the US by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal.
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