New Delhi, Feb. 21 -- India on Friday became the 10th country to join the US-led Pax Silica initiative for secure global supply chains for AI technology and semiconductors, strengthening the bilateral tech partnership and reflecting the warming of ties after a year of strains over the trade policies of the Trump administration. New Delhi was excluded when Washington launched the initiative last December to build resilient supply chains for semiconductors, advanced manufacturing and critical technologies amid intensified geopolitical competition with China. India became a signatory to the Pax Silica Declaration at an event on the sidelines of the AI Impact Summit, and also signed a joint statement on the "India-US AI Opportunity Partnership". Technology cooperation is a key pillar of the bilateral comprehensive global strategic partnership, and India's participation in Pax Silica is a "significant step forward" reinforces a shared commitment to trusted supply chains, the external affairs ministry said. The documents were signed by electronics and IT secretary S Krishnan, US ambassador Sergio Gor, and US under secretary of state for economic growth and energy, Jacob Helberg, in the presence of electronics and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and the White House director of science and technology policy, Michael Kratsios. Besides reducing over-concentration in global supply chains and preventing economic coercion, the development signalled a reset in India-US relations after the friction over tariffs and energy trade. It also followed an understanding on a trade deal, which led to President Donald Trump slashing tariffs on Indian exports to 18% from 50%. "Earlier this month, we concluded the interim trade agreement, a deal that shapes the economic contours of the Indo-Pacific. We overcame friction points that had held us back for far too long," Gor said before signing the declaration. "Today, India joins Pax Silica, the coalition that will define the 21st century economic and technological order." Vaishnaw said cooperation under Pax Silica will deepen engagement on critical technologies and supply chain resilience. "Indian engineers are designing the world's most advanced two-nanometer chips. The semiconductor industry will require around one million new skilled professionals, and this is a very big opportunity for India," he said. Without directly referring to China, Helberg said countries are grappling with a global supply chain that is "massively over-concentrated" and facing "daily threats of economic coercion and blackmail". He added, "We have seen the lights of a great Indian city extinguished by a keystroke from across the border, and we've seen our friends denied essential minerals simply because a leader dared to speak her mind." "So today, as we sign the Pax Silica Declaration, we say no to weaponised dependency and we say no to blackmail. And together, we say that economic security is national security." The other countries that have signed on for Pax Silica are Australia, Greece, Israel, Japan, Qatar, South Korea, Singapore, the UAE and the UK. In order to build secure supply chains for AI technologies, Pax Silica will focus on silicon and critical minerals that underpin semiconductors, advanced computing and other high-technology systems. Through the joint statement on the AI Opportunity Partnership, India and the US will promote pro-innovation regulatory approaches, strengthen the physical AI stack and advance free enterprise, the external affairs ministry said. This partnership also envisions empowering AI startups, exploring research, and facilitating investments. Gor said India's entry into Pax Silica is strategic and essential as it possesses critical engineering capabilities and has made important strides in critical mineral processing....