India likely to join US-led 'Pax Silica' strategic bloc on Friday: Report

India is likely to formally join a US-led strategic alliance, known as 'Pax Silica', which is aimed at building a resilient supply chain for critical minerals and artificial intelligence.

The move comes amid efforts by the two sides to finalise the proposed trade deal and move forward on several other initiatives to solidify the bilateral ties after a spell of severe strain in the relations.

India is likely to formally join the 'Pax Silica' initiative on Friday, people familiar with the matter said.

The initiative was launched in December to build a secure, resilient, and innovation-driven supply chain for critical minerals and artificial intelligence (AI).

The Pax Silica Summit was held in Washington on December 12 where partner nations signed the Pax Silica declaration.

The declaration lays out a shared vision of deep economic and technology cooperation across supply chains -- from raw materials through semiconductors and AI infrastructure -- and commitment to mutual prosperity and security.

The member nations of the Pax Silica include Australia, Greece, Israel, Japan, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.

US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor last month announced an invitation to New Delhi to join the strategic alliance.

One of the key pillars of Pax Silica was to establish a durable economic order to drive AI-powered prosperity across partner nations.

"We recognise that a reliable supply chain is indispensable to our mutual economic security," according to the Pax Silica declaration.

"We also recognize that artificial intelligence represents a transformative force for our long-term prosperity and that trustworthy systems are essential to safeguarding our mutual security and prosperity," it said.

"We believe that economic value and growth will flow through and across all levels of the global AI supply chain, driving historic opportunity and demand for energy, critical minerals, manufacturing, technological hardware, infrastructure, and new markets not yet invented," it said.