India and the United States have signed a framework agreement to secure supplies of critical minerals and rare earths, including their mining and processing, according to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs and the US embassy in India.Tuesday’s deal was finalised between Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in New Delhi during Rubio’s four-day trip to India.Rubio spent a few days in India before a meeting of foreign ministers from the informal Quad security forum – comprising the US, Japan, Australia and India – in New Delhi on Tuesday, the final day of his trip. The Indian foreign ministry also on Tuesday separately announced a critical minerals framework among the Quad countries.Here is more about the frameworks announced as well as more about India’s critical minerals stockpile.What are critical minerals, and why are they significant?Critical minerals are nonfuel minerals used to manufacture batteries, clocks, wiring, military hardware, semiconductors and other technological products. The US describes them as “essential to the economic or national security of the US” and having “a supply chain vulnerable to disruption”.Nickel, cobalt, lithium, aluminium and zinc are among the best known critical minerals. For 12 critical minerals, the US relies entirely on …
