‘Speculation behind India not participating in Pax Silica’: US explains trade separate from supply chain security; Helberg to attend Delhi summit

NEW DELHI: The United States on Wednesday said India was not excluded from its newly launched Pax Silica technology initiative due to political or trade tensions, asserting that New Delhi remains a “highly strategic potential partner” in supply chain security efforts.

Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg dismissed speculation linking India’s absence from the Washington-led grouping to strains in bilateral ties. Speaking at a Foreign Press Centre briefing, Helberg said discussions on trade and supply chain security were being pursued separately. “So my understanding is that there was a lot of speculation behind India not participating in the Pax Silica Summit,” he said.




“I want to be clear that the conversations between the United States and India pertaining to trade arrangements are a completely separate and parallel track to our discussions on supply chain security. We are not conflating those two things. We view India as a highly strategic potential partner on supply chain security-related efforts, and we welcome the opportunity to engage with them,” Helberg added.

Helberg said he is in “nearly daily communication” with interlocutors in Delhi and that both sides are “actively determining ways of actually deepening that collaboration quickly.” He also said he would attend the India AI Impact Summit in February, which he said would offer an opportunity to set “tangible milestones” for cooperation. “But we do plan to very much deepen our bilateral collaboration between the United States and India on economic security matters,” he said.

The US launched Pax Silica last week as a strategic initiative aimed at building a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain spanning critical minerals, energy inputs, advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, AI infrastructure and logistics. The initial grouping includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Australia, but not India. With India’s absence, all Quad members except New Delhi are part of the initiative.

Explaining the composition of the initial group, Helberg said the focus was on countries central to semiconductor manufacturing. “We focused on a segment of the supply chain that was very focused on semiconductor manufacturing,” he said, adding that Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and the Netherlands form the “nucleus of semiconductor manufacturing.” He said the US chose to begin with a smaller group before expanding participation further down the supply chain.

Helberg said it is part of Washington’s 2026 work plan to outline a clear pathway for aligned and reliable countries with unique contributions to join the Pax Silica framework.

Pax Silica was inaugurated last Friday with the signing of a declaration by representatives from the US, Japan, Israel, Australia, Singapore and South Korea. According to the US State Department, the initiative aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence, and enable partner countries to develop and deploy advanced technologies at scale.