After trade deal, India, US step up talks on critical minerals, defence and nuclear cooperation

External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Tuesday held wide-ranging talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, welcoming the newly agreed India-US trade deal and moving to deepen cooperation across strategic sectors.

In a post on X, Jaishankar said he was “delighted to meet US @SecRubio this afternoon” and that the two sides discussed a broad bilateral cooperation agenda, regional developments and global issues.

“Facets of India-US Strategic Partnership discussed included trade, energy, nuclear, defence, critical minerals and technology,” he wrote, adding that both sides agreed on early meetings of various mechanisms to advance shared interests.

A readout from the Office of the Spokesperson, US State Department said Rubio and Jaishankar welcomed the trade agreement reached between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stressing the importance of cooperation between the two democracies to unlock economic opportunities and strengthen energy security.

The officials discussed steps to formalise bilateral cooperation on critical minerals exploration, mining and processing, the statement said.

Rubio also posted on X that he met Jaishankar to discuss joint efforts on critical minerals and to “unlock new economic opportunities” between the United States and India.

The bilateral talks were held ahead of the inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial meeting being convened by the United States on Wednesday, where delegations from over 50 nations will gather to strengthen and diversify global critical minerals supply chains.

US Vice President J. D. Vance, Rubio, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Global Supply Chains David Copley, and Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg are scheduled to deliver opening remarks at the ministerial.

The meeting came a day after Trump announced that India and the US had agreed to a trade deal under which Washington would reduce reciprocal tariffs on Indian imports from 25% to 18%.

Trump said the agreement followed a phone call with Modi and included India ending purchases of Russian oil and increasing energy imports from the United States.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump described Modi as “one of my greatest friends” and said the leaders discussed trade and efforts to end the Russia–Ukraine war. He said India would eliminate tariffs and non-tariff barriers on US products, while the US would immediately cut tariffs on Indian goods to 18%.

No details of the trade deal are available so far.

An executive order from the US may provide clarity on the tariff issues.