The Geopolitics of Rare Earths: Strengthening India-U.S.A. Cooperation
China’s growing dominance in the rare earth sector has heightened tensions in the global supply chain security of the world. The constant dependency on China for rare earths is raising critical vulnerabilities regarding market monopolization. To break this constant cycle of dependency, the U.S.A. has brought the Pax Silica initiative, which would dismantle this dependency while, at the same time, it will also achieve the U.S.A.’s core goals of AI and supply chain security, along with advancing new economic security through agreements between the allies and trusted partners. Till now, 14 countries have been signatories of this Pax Silica initiative, and India has become one of them after signing it on 20 Feb 2026 during the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi. The Pax Silica is strengthening the engagement of India and the U.S.A. in the fields of critical technologies and supply chain resilience. However, securing the supply of critical minerals and rare earths is also necessary for producing critical technologies and building technologies necessary for the AI era.
