Washington DC : External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said that India and the United States conducted a detailed review of their bilateral cooperation during his meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington. Jaishankar, who is in the US to attend the Critical Minerals Ministerial hosted by Secretary Rubio, said discussions covered a wide range of bilateral, regional, and global issues, including the Indo-Pacific, West Asia, and the Ukraine conflict.
“We did a fairly detailed review of our bilateral cooperation. It is natural when foreign ministers meet to discuss the diplomatic agenda and the calendar—what we expect to do together during the year. A large part of our discussion was devoted to the bilateral side,” the External Affairs Minister said.
He added that the meeting also included a comprehensive exchange on global developments. “We spoke about the Indo-Pacific, developments in West Asia, the Middle East, Gaza, and the Ukraine conflict. There was a broad review of global affairs. In a sense, we discussed the world, we discussed our relationship, and it was a very open and forthcoming conversation,” Jaishankar noted.
At the Critical Minerals Ministerial, Jaishankar underlined India’s support for the US-led FORGE (Forum on Resource, Geostrategic Engagement) initiative. “I am here to attend the Critical Minerals Ministerial convened by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with participation from nearly 50 countries. Critical minerals are a very important subject, and the US has been a partner for some years. Today, they launched FORGE, a successor to the Mineral Security Partnership, which India has supported. It was a productive and outcome-oriented meeting,” he said.
Earlier, addressing the ministerial, Jaishankar cautioned that “excessive concentration” in critical mineral supply chains poses a major global risk and stressed the need for structured international cooperation to de-risk them. His remarks come as India deepens engagement with the US-led framework on strategic minerals, marking a shift from strategic intent to industrial execution. The announcement of dedicated rare earth corridors in India’s 2026 Union Budget is seen as a significant step toward strengthening domestic processing, separation, magnet manufacturing, and downstream capabilities.