By Admin 
India US Relations: India’s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar began his high-profile visit to America on Tuesday (February 4). On the very first day of the tour, he held two important meetings with US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant and Foreign Minister Marco Rubio. In these meetings, discussions were held to further strengthen the partnership between India and America in areas like trade, energy, nuclear cooperation, defence, critical minerals and technology.
This three-day visit of Jaishankar is taking place at a time when, just a day before, US President Donald Trump had announced a big trade deal with India after talking to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Under this agreement, the reciprocal tariff on Indian goods has been reduced from 25 percent to 18 percent, which is effective immediately.
Jaishankar meets Scott Besant
Foreign Minister Jaishankar started his tour with a meeting with US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant. According to officials, this conversation is considered very important for putting the new economic agreement between India and America on the ground.
These discussions were described as an important step towards finalizing the finer points of the big trade deal announced on Sunday. Posting on social media platform Officials believe that this conversation with the Treasury Department will help translate decisions taken at the political level into concrete policies, especially on issues like ease of doing business, market access and coordination of rules.
Talks on strategic partnership between Jaishankar and Rubio
In the second part of the day, Jaishankar met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. In this meeting, many major issues of cooperation between the two countries were discussed. Jaishankar said on social media that bilateral cooperation, regional and global issues as well as many important pillars of India-US strategic partnership were discussed in the talks. These include trade, energy, nuclear cooperation, defence, critical minerals and technology. He also said that both sides have agreed to hold separate institutional meetings soon to advance common interests.
At the same time, Marco Rubio said in his post that the meeting especially focused on the discovery of critical minerals and opening new economic opportunities. He also welcomed the trade agreement between India and America and called it an important step for the relations between the two countries.
America’s big initiative on critical minerals
The US State Department has already indicated that Rubio wants to work with international partners to strengthen the supply chain of critical minerals. These minerals are considered very important for areas like defence, technology manufacturing and clean energy.
America will host the Critical Minerals Ministerial for the first time in Washington DC on Wednesday. Officials from more than 50 countries will participate in it. The purpose of this meeting is to increase cooperation on securing and diversifying the supply of essential minerals around the world, the US State Department has said.
US State Department issued statement
The US State Department said that Foreign Minister Marco Rubio and India’s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar welcomed the trade deal between President Trump and Prime Minister Modi. At the end of the meeting, both the leaders said that they will further advance cooperation with India and America as well as other partner countries through Quad. He also believed that a strong and prosperous Indo-Pacific region is essential to advance the common interests of both the countries.
Tommy Pigott said this in his statement
Foreign Minister Dr. S. in Washington DC. Regarding Jaishankar’s meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Piggott said that in this meeting, both the leaders talked about formalizing cooperation between India and America on exploration, mining and processing of critical minerals.
Both welcomed the trade deal between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the conversation, it was emphasized that both the democratic countries should work together, so that new economic opportunities can open up and common goals related to energy security can be progressed.
At the end of the meeting, Jaishankar and Rubio reiterated their commitment to further strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation through the Quad. He also believed that a prosperous Indo-Pacific region is essential to advance the common interests of both the countries.