Washington DC, December 18, 2025: The United States regards India as a crucial
potential partner in efforts to secure global supply chains for artificial intelligence and
semiconductors, a senior American official has said, whilst dismissing suggestions that
political tensions prevented India’s participation in a recent Washington summit.
Jacob Helberg, the US Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, announced he
would attend the India AI Impact Summit in February as Washington seeks to deepen
collaboration with New Delhi on what he termed “economic security matters”.
Speaking to reporters virtually on the Pax Silica Summit in Washington on Wednesday,
Helberg addressed questions about India’s absence from the gathering, which brought
together technologically advanced economies to coordinate strategy on AI infrastructure
and semiconductor supply chains.
“I want to be clear that the conversations between the United States and India pertaining
to trade arrangements are a completely separate and parallel track to our discussions on
supply chain security,” Helberg said. “We are not conflating those two things.”
He emphasised that India was not “excluded” from the summit due to diplomatic friction,
but is currently engaged through bilateral discussions rather than the multilateral
framework.
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“We view India as a highly strategic potential partner on supply chain security-related
efforts, and we welcome the opportunity to engage with them,” he added, noting that
officials from both countries remain in daily communication.
The Under Secretary said his attendance at February’s Delhi summit would provide an
opportunity to establish “tangible milestones” for US-India cooperation.
“We are actively determining ways of actually deepening that collaboration quickly,”
Helberg said, adding that the event would yield substantial developments in bilateral
economic security arrangements.
The Pax Silica initiative, unveiled at the December summit, represents what organisers
describe as a fundamental shift in how Washington approaches economic policy–
prioritising national security over traditional trade considerations.