New York

The United States has described India as a “highly strategic potential partner” in efforts related to supply chain security and said it is keen to deepen engagement with New Delhi, even as India was not included in a newly launched US-led silicon supply chain initiative.

US Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg said Washington is in continuous dialogue with India on strengthening cooperation in economic and supply chain security. Speaking at a briefing at the Foreign Press Centre on Wednesday, Helberg emphasised that the US sees significant scope for collaboration with India in this critical area.

Last week, the US unveiled Pax Silica, a strategic framework aimed at building a secure, resilient and innovation-driven silicon supply chain. The initiative spans the entire ecosystem—from critical minerals and energy inputs to semiconductor manufacturing, artificial intelligence infrastructure and logistics. The initial group includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Australia. India, notably, was not among the founding participants, despite all other Quad members being part of the initiative.

Addressing questions on India’s absence, Helberg said there had been “considerable speculation” around the issue and firmly rejected suggestions that it was linked to any political or trade-related tensions between Washington and New Delhi.

“Our conversations with India on trade matters are completely separate from our discussions on supply chain security,” he said. “We are not conflating the two. We view India as a highly strategic potential partner on supply chain security-related efforts and welcome the opportunity to engage with them.”

Helberg added that he is in “nearly daily contact” with counterparts in India and that both sides are actively exploring ways to accelerate and deepen cooperation. He said he would attend the India AI Impact Summit scheduled for February, which would provide an opportunity for in-person discussions and help identify concrete areas of collaboration.

New Delhi is set to host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19–20, focusing on the themes of People, Planet and Progress. Announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, it will be the first global AI summit hosted in the Global South.

Explaining the initial composition of the Pax Silica group, Helberg said the US began with a relatively small set of countries that play a central role in semiconductor manufacturing. Nations such as Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and the Netherlands, he noted, form the core of the global semiconductor ecosystem.

“We decided to start with a focused group and then gradually expand to other countries further down the supply chain,” he said, adding that a clear pathway is being developed for aligned and reliable partners with unique capabilities to join the framework in the future.

The US State Department has said Pax Silica is designed to reduce coercive dependencies, safeguard materials and technologies essential to AI, and ensure that like-minded nations can scale up the development and deployment of transformative technologies.

Helberg, along with representatives from Japan, Israel, Australia, Singapore and South Korea, formally launched Pax Silica last Friday by signing a declaration outlining the initiative’s objectives. The inaugural summit brought together officials from eight countries, which the State Department said host many of the world’s most influential companies and investors in the AI and technology supply chain.

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Describing Pax Silica as a new model of international cooperation, the department said it seeks to establish a durable economic order capable of supporting an AI-driven era of growth and prosperity across partner nations.