India and the United States are also anchoring their bilateral cooperation within a broader multilateral framework.
So, during the Critical Minerals Ministerial held in Washington from February 2nd to 4th, 2026, the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio announced the creation of a successor mechanism to the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP), called the Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement (FORGE), which aims to coordinate policy, mobilise private capital, and accelerate investment across diversified and resilient critical mineral supply chains.
India formally endorsed the initiative at the ministerial, signalling alignment with Washington’s push to reduce over-concentration in mining, processing, and refining capacity and to promote transparent, market-oriented supply chains.
For India, participation in FORGE reinforces its ongoing bilateral efforts with the United States by embedding them within a coalition-based approach to critical mineral security, and the framework also complements its domestic critical minerals strategy – entailing the National Critical Minerals Mission, budget provisions for Rare Earth Corridors and processing incentives – by potentially easing access to advanced technologies, financing, and long-term offtake partnerships involving US firms.
In effect, FORGE provides a multilateral scaffold that could amplify the strategic depth of India–US cooperation in critical minerals beyond project-specific engagements.
Taken together, the aforesaid developments can safely be categorized as a qualitative transformation in the India–US partnership. The relationship is increasingly defined by shared assets, shared technologies, and shared strategic objectives rather than simple trade flows.
Ranging from LNG equity investments to technological cooperation in recovery, processing, and recycling of strategic minerals, the India-US partnership in the energy and critical minerals sectors appears being reshaped into a long-term industrial collaboration that will eventually be capable of not just responding to market cycles but even shape them.
Tanmay Kadam is a geopolitical observer based in India. He has experience working as a Defense and International Affairs journalist for EurAsian Times. He can be contacted at tanmaykadam700@gmail.com.
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References
- India’s Rare Earth Strategy: Manufacturing, Corridors, and Global Integration, Press Information Bureau (PIB), February 3rd, 2026 ↩︎
- Ibid ↩︎