Ashwini Vaishnaw arrives in Washington for US-hosted critical minerals meeting

Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw arrived in Washington DC on Sunday to participate in a critical minerals meeting hosted by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

Bessent will host a meeting of the Group of Seven finance ministers in Washington to discuss critical minerals. The G7 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the European Union.  Media reports have said that other countries, including India and Australia, have also been invited to the meeting.

“Arrived in Washington, DC. Will participate in the Critical Minerals Ministerial Meeting tomorrow. Secure critical mineral supply chains are vital for our goal of Viksit Bharat,” Vaishnaw, who is also Minister of Information & Broadcasting, said in a post on social media.

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Securing and leading in critical minerals and rare earths are among the top priorities for the Trump administration, which has said that America’s “national and economic security are now acutely threatened by our reliance upon hostile foreign powers’ mineral production.”

According to the International Energy Agency, China is the leading refiner for a majority of minerals, including copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite and rare earth elements, and has an average market share of around 70 per cent.  China controls the supply chains for vital material components such as manganese sulphate and phosphoric acid, the agency said.