Jaishankar meets Bessent, Rubio in US

Foreign Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington DC and discussed formalising bilateral cooperation on critical minerals exploration, mining, and processing. According to Jaishankar, several facets of the India-US Strategic Partnership were covered during the discussions, including trade, energy, nuclear, defence, critical minerals and technology. In a post on X, the Foreign Minister said that both leaders agreed on the early meetings of various mechanisms to advance our shared interests.The meeting between Jaishankar and Rubio comes a day after Trump announced on Truth Social that India and the US agreed to a trade deal, under which Washington will bring down the reciprocal tariff on Delhi from 25 to 18 per cent.
According to a statement issued by Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott, Rubio and Jaishankar welcomed the India-US trade deal reached between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Secretary Rubio and Minister Jaishankar concluded their meeting by expressing their commitment to expanding bilateral and multilateral cooperation through the Quad. They acknowledged that a prosperous Indo-Pacific region remains vital to advancing our shared interests," the statement added.
Jaishankar began his visit by meeting US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, with officials describing the talks as crucial to operationalising the new economic agreement between the two countries.Posting on X after the meeting, Jaishankar said he had a "useful discussion" on advancing economic partnership and strategic cooperation between the two countries. Critical minerals' cooperation featured prominently in Jaishankar’s engagements in Washington, reflecting growing strategic concerns over supply chain security.