Pax Silica declaration
♦ India and the United States have signed the Pax Silica declaration at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi on 20 February 2026. This declaration will strengthen collaboration in areas like the production of critical minerals and semiconductors and in the rapidly evolving Artificial Intelligence space, to create a safe and strong global silicon and technology ecosystem. ♦ Presiding over the signing ceremony, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that the goal of India is to take a leadership role in Semiconductor and Electronics industries. He added that the Semiconductor Industry requires more than 10 lakh talented pool and that will be fulfilled within the country. He also informed that students from 315 Universities and colleges are designing chips. ♦ At the signing ceremony US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said that ‘Pax Silica’ aims to replace coercive dependencies with trusted industrial partnerships that empower free markets. He underlined that that the partnership seeks to advance trusted AI globally, emphasising that peace comes through strength.