The Congress party on Saturday criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi after India was left out of a US-led initiative, ‘Pax Silica’, aimed at creating a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh called India’s exclusion a reflection of a “sharp downturn” in ties between Modi and former US President Trump.
Pax Silica, designed to counter Chinese dominance in high-tech supply chains, currently includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the UK, Israel, the UAE, and Australia. Congress argued that India’s absence from the initiative is a missed opportunity to strengthen its strategic and technological standing globally.
Ramesh highlighted that the news comes just after Prime Minister Modi posted enthusiastically on social media about a phone call with Trump, referring to their erstwhile friendly ties. The Congress leader suggested that India could have gained significant advantage by being part of the nine-nation grouping.
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The US State Department stated that the initiative aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect critical materials for artificial intelligence (AI), and enable participating nations to develop transformative technologies at scale. Notably, all other QUAD nations, except India, are part of Pax Silica.
Despite the exclusion, India continues to focus on AI and technology initiatives. New Delhi is set to host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, emphasizing the themes of “People, Planet, and Progress” and marking the first global AI summit in the Global South.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Modi and Trump discussed the bilateral economic partnership in a phone call, coinciding with the conclusion of India-US trade talks. Modi described the conversation as “warm and engaging” but made no reference to India’s exclusion from the Pax Silica initiative, which has sparked criticism from opposition parties.
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