India Joins US-Led ‘Pax Silica’- What Is It? Why India's Entry Is Geopolitical Gamechanger

New Delhi: In a landmark strategic shift, India officially signed the Pax Silica Declaration today (February 20, 2026) on the sidelines of the India AI Impact Summit being held in the national capital.

The declaration was signed in the presence of Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, U.S. Ambassador to India Sergio Gor, and Jacob Helberg, the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment.

The move signals New Delhi’s formal entry into a powerful Washington-backed coalition aimed at "decoupling" critical technology from Chinese influence.

India’s entry marks it as the tenth partner in a U.S.-led bloc designed to challenge China’s dominance over the semiconductor and mineral supply chains that will define global technology for decades.

What is Pax Silica?

Launched by the U.S. State Department in December 2025, Pax Silica is a multilateral framework that coordinates policy across the entire "technology stack." Its members agree to build a "trusted ecosystem" that excludes adversarial actors.

As the U.S. State Department’s premier initiative for AI and supply chain resilience, Pax Silica aims to forge a new economic security consensus among global allies.

The name itself carries meaning. “Pax” comes from the Latin word for peace, suggesting stability and order. “Silica” refers to the mineral that forms the foundation of semiconductor chips, the tiny components that power smartphones, data centres, electric vehicles and AI systems.

This landmark partnership follows closely on the heels of the Critical Minerals Ministerial in early February, where External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar represented India at the high-level summit hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Key pillars of alliance

The alliance focuses on four key pillars:

Mining & Refining: Securing rare earth elements to break China’s processing monopoly.

Fabrication: Co-investing in advanced semiconductor plants (fabs).

Compute Infrastructure: Building secure data centers and fiber-optic networks.

AI Deployment: Establishing shared ethics and export controls for AI foundational models.

Why it exists?

Pax Silica provides a 'trusted alternative' to a world currently dependent on China for critical minerals.

Following a crisis last year where Chinese export freezes crippled India's automotive sector and imposed 'no-defense' usage conditions on importers, the alliance has moved to diversify the tech stack. It leverages a 'coalition of capabilities,' ranging from Australian mining and Dutch precision engineering to South Korean fabrication and India’s growing role as a rare earth and engineering hub.

Why is it being formed?

Pax Silica is being formed to secure the global supply chains for Artificial Intelligence (AI), semiconductors, and critical minerals.

The goal is to build a "trusted ecosystem" among allies to reduce "weaponized dependency" and economic blackmail from non-aligned nations (like China).

By coordinating investments and mining, the alliance ensures that the "silicon stack" powering modern life, from smartphones to defense systems, remains stable and resilient against geopolitical shocks.

Who is spear-heading the initiative?

The United States Department of State is leading the initiative, framing it as their flagship strategy for AI and supply chain security. Specifically, it is being spearheaded by Jacob Helberg, the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, alongside U.S. Ambassador to India Sergio Gor.

The alliance is a collaborative effort between the U.S. and a core group of "trusted partners," including India, Japan, South Korea, the UK, Australia, Israel, Singapore, and the UAE, to establish a new global consensus on economic and technological security.

The "India Factor"

India’s entry is seen as the "missing piece" for the alliance. While members like the Netherlands (ASML) and Japan provide the machinery, and Qatar/UAE provide the cheap energy for data centers, India provides the "human compute" (massive talent pool) and the world’s largest set of open-source data from its 1.45 billion citizens.

Why It Matters- The Geopolitical “Cold War”

The subtext of Pax Silica is the containment of "Pax Sinica" (China’s tech-led order). By joining, India is moving away from its traditional "strategic autonomy" in tech to align with a Western-led hardware and software standard.

"Today, we say no to weaponized dependency and no to blackmail," stated U.S. Under Secretary Jacob Helberg during the signing. "Economic security is now inseparable from national security."

The United States Department of State is leading the initiative, framing it as their flagship strategy for AI and supply chain security. Specifically, it is being spearheaded by Jacob Helberg, the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, alongside U.S. Ambassador to India Sergio Gor.

Experts view Pax Silica as a major geopolitical shift where technology has replaced oil as the world’s most strategic resource. By securing the infrastructure for AI, semiconductors, and critical minerals, the U.S. and its allies aim to reduce vulnerabilities and offer a "trusted" alternative to China’s tech dominance. Ultimately, this initiative signals a transition from the age of oil to a new era of silicon-based power, where control over chips and minerals defines global economic and strategic authority.

Ashwini Vaishnaw hails Pax Silica initiative

Vaishnaw termed India's entry into the Pax Silica Declaration as a "historic event," asserting that it is crucial to position India as a trusted partner in the global semiconductor supply chain.

Vaishnaw said, "The semiconductor supply chain is very important for the entire world. There is a need for a resilient supply chain. We have seen the kind of disruptions which happened during COVID, and it can be weaponised. So that's why today the entire world is looking at India as a trusted country."

Sergio Gor hails India's entry

Gor framed India's entry into Pax Silica as the final piece of a global puzzle intended to keep the "commanding heights" of technology in the hands of free nations. 

Gor formally welcomed India as a co-founder of the Pax Silica coalition, declaring that the partnership between the world's two largest democracies is now "limitless."

Also Read: Priyanka Gandhi Stays Muted On Naravane Memoir Row, Dodges Questions After Former Army Chief Exposes Rahul Gandhi