Thirty-five nations, including India, signed the Joint Statement on AI Opportunity at the second Pax Silica Summit held in Washington DC on June 25-26, 2026. The statement commits signatories to a pro-growth, pro-innovation regulatory approach for artificial intelligence while building trusted and resilient supply chains for AI technologies. The summit was hosted by Jacob Helberg, US Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, with the Indian delegation led by S Krishnan, Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
What Is the Pax Silica Initiative?
Pax Silica is a US-led strategic initiative launched in December 2025 by the US Department of State as its flagship effort on AI and supply chain security. The name draws from “Pax”, the Latin term for peace and stability, and “Silica”, the precursor to silicon, the foundational material for semiconductors. The initiative aims to build secure, resilient, and innovation-driven supply chains spanning the entire AI ecosystem from critical minerals and energy inputs to advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, and AI infrastructure.
The first Pax Silica Summit took place on December 12, 2025 in Washington DC, where an initial group of seven countries including Australia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Israel, and the United States signed the Pax Silica Declaration. India formally joined the initiative on February 20, 2026 on the sidelines of the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi. The initiative is described by US officials as a “positive-sum partnership” not aimed at isolating others but at coordinating with trusted partners to reduce coercive dependencies and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
Expansion of the Pax Silica Coalition
A significant outcome of the second summit was the expansion of the Pax Silica coalition itself. Ten new partners signed on to the Pax Silica Declaration, reflecting the initiative’s growing global footprint across multiple regions:
| Region | New Signatories |
|---|---|
| Europe | Germany, Greece, Netherlands, European Union |
| Americas | Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama |
| Central Asia | Kazakhstan |
With these additions, the total number of signatories to the Pax Silica Declaration reached 24. These new members joined the existing partners that included Australia, Finland, India, Israel, Japan, Norway, Qatar, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Sweden, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Taiwan participates as a non-signatory partner, having endorsed the declaration’s principles through a separate joint statement.
The European Union’s accession as a bloc was particularly notable, as it marked the first time the EU formally joined as a unified entity alongside its individual member states.
Key Outcomes of the Second Summit
The second summit marked a shift from declarations to concrete action, with three major deliverables.
Joint Statement on AI Opportunity
The centrepiece was the Joint Statement on AI Opportunity, endorsed by 35 nations. The statement reflects a shared commitment to a pro-growth, pro-innovation regulatory approach to AI. Signatories agreed to build trusted technology ecosystems, invest in resilient supply chains, and mobilise the private sector in building the infrastructure needed to power the AI economy. Helberg described the statement as reflecting a simple but important idea: “Governments should not approach AI primarily through the lens of restriction. We should approach it through the lens of opportunity.”
PaxPass: Streamlining the Movement of Critical AI Goods
Helberg announced the launch of PaxPass, a logistics platform designed to transform how trusted partners move high-value AI supply chain products. The platform combines cargo verification, AI-powered risk assessment, and pre-approved expedited processing for trusted shipments. PaxPass will initially operate as a pilot through Panama, leveraging the country’s strategic position as a global trade hub. The US committed USD 50 million in foreign assistance funding to support the platform’s development and deployment. If successful, the pilot will expand to other Pax Silica partner economies in a second phase.
Foundry School: Workforce Development with Stanford
The summit also unveiled the Foundry School, a workforce development initiative in partnership with Stanford University. It will begin with a seminar series at Stanford, bringing together founders and CEOs in advanced manufacturing to teach the principles behind successful industrial enterprises. Stanford and the State Department will jointly develop a first-of-its-kind advanced manufacturing curriculum that educational institutions across Pax Silica economies can adopt. Advanced manufacturing, despite its vital importance for national power, has not yet been well established as a standalone field of study. The Foundry School seeks to fill this gap and train the next generation of technologists, policymakers, and industrial leaders.
India’s Role and Strategic Interest
India has been an active participant in the Pax Silica framework since formally joining in February 2026. The Indian delegation at the second summit was led by S Krishnan, Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), alongside Nagraj Naidu, Additional Secretary (Americas) in the Ministry of External Affairs, and representatives from Indian industry.
India’s participation aligns closely with its domestic ambitions in semiconductor manufacturing and AI. The India Semiconductor Mission, overseen by MeitY, aims to build a vibrant semiconductor and display ecosystem to transform India into a global hub for electronics manufacturing. The India AI Mission, launched to create a scalable AI compute ecosystem, further complements the objectives of Pax Silica. By joining the coalition, India gains access to a network of trusted partners for critical minerals, chip fabrication, and advanced manufacturing technologies, reducing its own supply chain vulnerabilities while positioning itself as a key node in the global AI supply chain.
The Indian delegation engaged with other governments and industry on advancing collaboration in semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and resilient technology supply chains. Helberg described the US-India partnership as one of the most consequential of the 21st century, with bilateral cooperation extending to the Quad and the TRUST initiative.
The Geopolitical Context
Pax Silica operates against a backdrop of intensifying competition between the United States and China over leadership in advanced technologies. China currently controls approximately 70 percent of global refining capacity for critical minerals used in AI technologies and over 90 percent of global rare earth production. It also accounts for 98 percent of global production of gallium, a mineral essential for high-performance chips used in GPUs and data centres.
The initiative is part of a broader US strategy of “friend-shoring” relocating critical technology supply chains to politically aligned countries. In March 2026, the US announced a USD 250 million contribution toward a supply chain investment fund to strengthen energy and critical mineral supply chains across partner nations. Pax Silica is designed as a practical alternative to China’s Digital Silk Road, which uses aggressive financing and subsidised offerings to entrench its influence across digital systems worldwide. The initiative emphasises that it is not about isolating others but about coordinating with partners who want to remain competitive and prosperous through shared investment, aligned export controls, and joint infrastructure projects.
Key Takeaways
- The second Pax Silica Summit was held in Washington DC on June 25-26, 2026, hosted by US Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg.
- 35 nations, including India, signed the Joint Statement on AI Opportunity, committing to pro-growth AI regulation and resilient supply chains.
- The summit launched PaxPass, a logistics platform to streamline movement of critical AI goods, backed by USD 50 million in US funding, with an initial pilot in Panama.
- The Foundry School, a workforce development initiative with Stanford University, was announced to create advanced manufacturing curricula for partner economies.
- Ten new partners joined the Pax Silica Declaration, taking the total to 24 signatories, including Germany, Greece, Netherlands, EU, Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama, and Kazakhstan.
- India was represented by S Krishnan, Secretary of MeitY, aligning with India’s semiconductor and AI missions under the broader US-India technology partnership.
