The United States and India have held high-level talks in Washington focused on critical minerals cooperation, trade and strategic ties.

The talks were held late on Tuesday against the backdrop of a recently finalised bilateral trade deal that has drawn attention across the region.

Diplomatic observers in Washington, however, maintain that the agreement is unlikely to affect recently improved bilateral ties between Pakistan and the US, as those are not linked to India.

The observers note that recent developments in the greater Middle East, as well as in South and Central Asia, have further enhanced Pakistan’s relevance as a key regional player in Washington’s strategic calculus.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar during the latter’s three-day official visit to the United States, as both sides moved to deepen economic and strategic coordination in the Indo-Pacific.

According to the US State Department readout, Secretary Rubio and Minister Jaishankar discussed “formalising bilateral cooperation on critical minerals exploration, mining, and processing”, an area of growing importance amid global supply chain realignments and competition over energy transition resources.

The meeting came ahead of the inaugural critical minerals ministerial scheduled for Wednesday and followed the conclusion of a long-pending trade agreement between Washington and New Delhi. Under the deal, the US has agreed to reduce tariffs on Indian goods to 18 per cent after nearly a year of negotiations.

“Secretary Rubio and Minister Jaishankar welcomed the trade deal reached between President Trump and Prime Minister Modi,” the US statement said, adding that the two leaders “emphasised the importance of our democracies working together to unlock new economic opportunities and advance our shared energy security goals”.

In a post on social media, Secretary Rubio said: “Met Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar to discuss our bilateral cooperation on critical minerals exploration and work together to unlock new economic opportunities between our two countries. We also commended the trade deal between the United States and India.”

Jaishankar, in his own message, said he was “delighted to meet US Secretary Rubio this afternoon”, describing it as “a wide-ranging conversation that covered our bilateral cooperation agenda, regional and global issues”.

“Facets of India — US Strategic Partnership discussed included trade, energy, nuclear, defence, critical minerals and technology,” he said, adding: “Agreed on the early meetings of various mechanisms to advance our shared interests.”

The two sides also reaffirmed their commitment to expanding “bilateral and multilateral cooperation” through the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad), which brings together the United States, India, Japan and Australia.

The US readout said the meeting concluded with both leaders expressing their commitment to strengthening cooperation through the Quad, while acknowledging that “a prosperous Indo-Pacific region remains vital to advancing our shared interests”.

Pakistan, which has been seeking to stabilise its economic relations with Washington while navigating an increasingly polarised regional environment, is also attending the critical minerals meeting.

Pakistani participation in the Washington gathering is seen as part of broader efforts to position the country as a credible destination for strategic mineral investment. Islamabad has previously signed memoranda of understanding worth about $500 million with US partners for cooperation in the development and processing of critical minerals.

India will diversify energy supplies: minister

India will diversify its energy sources as a strategy amid changing global circumstances and ensure energy security for its citizens, Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday, days after the US said New Delhi will halt Russian oil purchases.

Trump on Monday announced a trade deal with India that slashed tariffs on Indian goods to 18pc from 50pc in exchange for India halting Russian oil purchases and lowering trade barriers.

Trump said India would instead buy oil from the US and potentially Venezuela. The Kremlin on Tuesday, however, said it had heard no statements from India about halting purchases of Russian oil.

In his first statement to the parliament on the trade deal, Goyal did not refer to shifting energy purchases away from any country.

Indian refiners have not been told by the government to stop buying Russian oil and would need a wind-down period to complete purchases already in process, Reuters reported.

In the US deal, India has successfully protected sensitive sectors such as agriculture and dairy, Goyal added.

Lawmakers from India’s opposition party Congress have questioned the lack of details on the deal and have sought clarifications on the extent of farm access offered to Washington.