India-US TRUST Initiative and its Key Features

Discover the India-U.S. TRUST Initiative (Technology, Resilience, Upliftment, and Security Together), a collaborative effort to strengthen technology cooperation, enhance supply chain resilience, and drive sustainable economic growth.

Table of Contents

Context: Recently India and the United States have launched the TRUST initiative.

About India-US TRUST Initiative

Transforming Relationship Utilizing Strategic Technology (TRUST) is a bilateral agreement to enhance cooperation in critical minerals, pharmaceuticals, and advanced materials.
It will strengthen bilateral collaboration between governments, academia and the private sector in key technological areas such as: Defense, AI, Semiconductors, Quantum Computing, Biotechnology etc.

Key Features of TRUST Initiative

Critical Minerals Cooperation

Focus on recovery and processing of critical minerals like lithium and rare earth elements (REEs).
Launch of the Strategic Mineral Recovery initiative, a new U.S.-India program to recover and process critical minerals (including lithium, cobalt and rare earths) from heavy industries like aluminum, coal mining and oil and gas.
The initiative aims to reduce dependency on China, which currently controls nearly 70% of the global REE market.

Cooperation in Pharmaceutical Sector

Encourage public and private investments to expand Indian manufacturing capacity.
India is the world’s second-largest producer of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), many of which depend on critical minerals like lithium, magnesium, zinc, and selenium.

TRUST will complement the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP), a 14-nation US-led initiative that includes India, Australia, Canada, Japan, Germany and the UK to catalyze investment in critical mineral supply chains.

Infrastructure Development through IMEC Framework

Focus: Work together on economic corridors and connectivity infrastructure under the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and I2U2 frameworks.
Impact: Foster global connectivity, facilitate trade, and promote economic integration across regions.

Advancing Technology Collaboration

Areas of Cooperation: Defense, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum computing, biotechnology, energy, and space technologies.
Implementation: Reduce barriers to technology transfer, address export controls, and enhance high-tech commerce between the two nations.