Unable to Verify Signing of New Agreement by India and 7 Countries Under “Pax Silica” Initiative
Key Facts
It was not possible to verify that India and seven other countries signed a new U.S.-led agreement to protect AI supply chains, so the development cannot be confirmed as described in the report. Available facts show that India joined the “Pax Silica” initiative in February, a step described as reflecting improved relations between New Delhi and Washington after a period of tension. U.S. Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said India’s joining “is not merely symbolic; it is strategic and essential.” The cooperation described by the initiative focuses on semiconductors, including their design, manufacturing, research and supply-chain resilience. Any reference to a new declaration or additional signatories still requires independent confirmation before it can be attributed to the countries concerned.
“Pax Silica” began with a founding declaration signed by the United States, Australia, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Singapore and Israel at a summit held in Washington on 12 December 2025. This background shows that the initiative predated India’s joining, and that its membership in February came within an already established track of cooperation. The declaration sets out a scope extending beyond chip manufacturing to other links needed to develop and operate AI technologies. The areas cited include software applications and platforms, advanced foundational models, connectivity and network infrastructure, computing and semiconductors. The scope also extends to advanced manufacturing, transport logistics, mineral processing and energy. The declaration frames supply-chain security as an interconnected system encompassing these components, rather than limiting it to a single sector.
The Associated Press linked India’s joining in February to improved U.S.-India relations after a brief period of tension related to New Delhi’s continued purchases of discounted Russian oil. In the trade thaw that preceded the joining, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a cut in the U.S. reciprocal tariff on imports from India from 25% to 18%. He also announced the cancellation of an additional 25% duty imposed because India bought Russian oil. These developments place India’s joining the initiative within a broader political and trade rapprochement, according to the available facts about that period. But they do not establish that a new agreement was signed on the date of the report, or specify whether the joining in February was followed by a separate announcement. Gor said India’s position in the initiative was strategic and essential, underscoring the importance of its participation in semiconductor-related cooperation.
Before the proposed announcement, a Euronews report published on 12 November 2026 said Washington wanted initiative members to endorse the declaration at a ceremony in San Francisco on Sunday. But the same report said European countries had raised reservations about the declaration’s scope and wording. Its draft, according to the report, called for protecting sensitive technologies and critical infrastructure by diversifying supply chains and coordinating responses to economic coercion. Euronews reported that EU governments had given the European Commission a mandate to represent the bloc and negotiate with the United States on the declaration’s content. The report pointed to the possibility that the Commission would not receive a mandate to sign before the San Francisco ceremony. Thus, negotiating the declaration’s content and authorizing its signing were two separate points in the European process, as described in the 12 November report.