Pax Silica & India’s Inclusion | 13 Jan 2026

Source: IE 

Why in News? 

The United States’ newly appointed Ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, stated that India will be invited to join “Pax Silica,” a US-led coalition aimed at securing and strengthening the critical minerals supply chain. 

What is Pax Silica? 

  • About: It is a US led coalition aimed at building a secure, resilient, and innovation-driven silicon and Artificial Intelligence (AI) supply chain ecosystem through deep cooperation with trusted global partners. 
    • The inaugural Pax Silica Summit was held in Washington, D.C. in December, 2025. 
  • Objective: It aims to reduce coercive dependencies on a single country, protect AI-critical materials and enable aligned nations to develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale. 
    • China dominates the critical minerals supply chain needed for the silicon and AI supply chain ecosystem , refining over 60% of lithium, cobalt, and rare earths. Global diversification efforts are accelerating after China’s restrictions on rare earth magnets disrupted supply chains. 
  • Participating Nations: Japan, Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Israel, United Arab Emirates, and Australia. 
    • Partner countries host key firms such as Sony, Hitachi, Fujitsu, Samsung, SK Hynix, Temasek, DeepMind, MGX, Rio Tinto, and ASML, which power the global AI supply chain. 
  • Core Commitments: Joint projects to address AI supply chain vulnerabilities across critical minerals, semiconductor design, fabrication and packaging, compute infrastructure, and energy grids, along with protecting sensitive technologies from countries of concern. 

Pax Silica and India 

  • India’s Earlier Exclusion: India currently lacks the critical edge technologies that Pax Silica prioritizes and is not a major repository of critical minerals, which limited its inclusion in the grouping. 
    • However, just as India joined the US-led Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) (2022), a year after its launch in 2023, becoming its 14th member, India could similarly be inducted into Pax Silica at a later stage. 

What are India's Initiatives to Support Silicon and AI Supply Chain? 

  • India’s Semiconductor Push: Under the USD 10 billion India Semiconductor Mission (ISM, 2021), India aims to build an indigenous semiconductor ecosystem. 
    • 10 projects approved, involving Rs 1.6 trillion investment, covering fabrication and packaging. 
  • India’s AI Strategy: Rs 10,372 crore IndiaAI Mission (2024) focuses on indigenous Large Language Models (LLMs) and domestic AI capacity. 
    • Graphics processing units (GPUs) capacity expanded to 34,333 GPUs, nearly doubling earlier levels. 
    • Supports a shared cloud-based compute platform for AI training and inference, critical for foundational models tailored to Indian data and context. 
  • National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM): It aims to secure India's self-reliance in critical minerals for high-tech, clean energy, and defense.  
    • The mission covers the full chain—from exploration and mining to processing and recycling—encouraging overseas asset acquisition and international trade ties.  
    • It will establish mineral parks, promote recycling, and support research, including a Centre of Excellence. 
  • Minerals Security Partnership (MSP): The MSP, a US initiative, aims to strengthen critical mineral supply chains by ensuring minerals are produced, processed, and recycled to maximize their economic development benefits. 
    • It directly supports India's mineral self-reliance strategy, complementing domestic actions like the National Critical Minerals Mission and overseas acquisitions by KABIL. It bolsters India’s position in the global race for critical minerals vital for future industries and the energy transition.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 

1. What is Pax Silica? 
Pax Silica is a US-led coalition of nine countries aimed at securing a resilient, innovation-driven semiconductor and AI supply chain. 

2. Which countries are part of Pax Silica? 
Japan, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Netherlands, UK, Israel, UAE, Australia, and the US. 

3. What are India’s key initiatives in semiconductors and AI? 
India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), IndiaAI Mission, and National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) aim to build indigenous supply chains, AI infrastructure, and critical mineral security. 

UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Questions (PYQs)  

Q. Recently, there has been a concern over the short supply of a group of elements called ‘rare earth metals’. Why? (2012)

  1. China, which is the largest producer of these elements, has imposed some restrictions on their export.  
  2. Other than China, Australia, Canada and Chile, these elements are not found in any country.  
  3. Rare earth metals are essential for the manufacture of various kinds of electronic items and there is a growing demand for these elements.  

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?  

(a) 1 only  

(b) 2 and 3 only  

(c) 1 and 3 only  

(d) 1, 2 and 3  

Ans: (c)