India steps into G7 critical minerals talks in Washington as US expands push to curb China-led supply chains

India has joined senior-level talks on critical minerals in Washington, marking a stronger strategic alignment with the United States and G7 nations as they work to cut reliance on supply chains dominated by China.

Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw reached Washington DC on Sunday to attend a critical minerals ministerial meeting convened by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

The meeting is taking place alongside a gathering of finance ministers from the Group of Seven Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US together with the European Union. India and Australia have also been invited to participate.

“Arrived in Washington, DC. Will be participating in the Critical Minerals Ministerial Meeting tomorrow. Secure and resilient critical mineral supply chains are essential for achieving the vision of Viksit Bharat,” Vaishnaw said in a post on social media.

Why Washington is widening participation

Speaking on Saturday, Bessent said India, Australia and several other countries would be part of the discussions, highlighting Washington’s effort to widen coordination beyond the world’s most advanced economies.

He told reporters that he had been advocating for a focused G7 dialogue on critical minerals since the leaders’ summit last summer, pointing to what he described as China’s growing use of supply chains as strategic leverage. G7 finance ministers, he added, had already held a virtual meeting on the issue in December.

China’s dominance in refining

Data from the International Energy Agency shows China remains the world’s largest refiner of most key critical minerals, including copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite and rare earth elements, with an average market share close to 70 percent.

The agency has also highlighted China’s strong control over downstream materials such as manganese sulphate and phosphoric acid, which are vital inputs for battery production and advanced manufacturing.

This level of concentration has emerged as a strategic risk for Western economies, particularly as demand for critical minerals surges alongside the global energy transition and the rapid expansion of AI-driven data centres.

India’s growing role beyond the Quad

India is also expected to join the US-led Pax Silica initiative ahead of an upcoming artificial intelligence summit in New Delhi. While India is a member of the Quad, it was not initially part of Pax Silica, which currently includes the US, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the UK, Israel, the UAE and Australia.

India will also participate in another US-hosted meeting on critical minerals ahead of the Artificial Intelligence Impact Summit scheduled to be held in New Delhi on February 19–20, according to the Economic Times.

Pakistan dimension

Separately, the US maintains a parallel critical minerals engagement with Pakistan, an initiative that has contributed to strengthening political ties between Washington and Islamabad.