‘Pax Silica’ Initiative

The United States has launched a new strategic initiative called Pax Silica with a group of “trusted allies” to build a secure, resilient, and innovation-driven silicon and AI supply chain.

• India has been excluded from the inaugural grouping despite its participation in frameworks like iCET (initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology).

What is Pax Silica?

• Pax Silica is a US-led strategic initiative to build a “secure, prosperous, and innovation-driven silicon supply chain” — from critical minerals and energy inputs to advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, AI infrastructure, and logistics.
• Strategic Objective: 
  • The initiative aims to streamline supply chains and build a trusted technology ecosystem, recognising that “economic security is national security”.
• Technology Focus: It seeks to secure strategic technology “stacks”, including hardware, software platforms, AI models, and digital infrastructure.
• Inaugural Members (9): US, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia.

Rationale for the Coalition

• Countering China: Pax Silica is designed to respond to China’s dominance in critical minerals processing, rare earths, and semiconductor supply chains.
• Reducing Strategic Vulnerabilities: It aims to limit risks arising from concentrated supply chains, and export controls
• Alliance-Based Order: The initiative promotes a trusted economic order among like-minded countries in the AI and digital economy

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Operational Mechanisms

• Sectoral Coverage: Cooperation will span critical minerals, semiconductor design, fabrication and packaging, logistics and transportation, compute infrastructure, energy grids, and power generation.
• Investment Framework: The initiative will ease the pursuit of new joint ventures and strategic co-investment opportunities.
• Technology Protection: It seeks to protect sensitive technologies and critical infrastructure from undue access or control by countries of concern.
• Partner countries have committed to build trusted technology ecosystems, including ICT systems, fiber-optic cables, data centers, foundational models and applications.

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