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Speaking to ANI on the sidelines of an event, Vijayaraghavan said securing the supply and availability of critical minerals has become a priority for countries around the world, including India and the UK. “I think critical minerals, as the name suggests, is important for all countries now around the world. Everybody is trying to become secure in their critical mineral supply and availability, India, UK as well,” he said. However, he stressed that countries cannot achieve critical mineral security in isolation and need to build partnerships with friendly nations to strengthen supply chains.

Building Self-Sufficient Ecosystems

Highlighting the potential for India-UK cooperation, he said the UK has a long history of strong research and development capabilities in advanced materials and critical minerals, while India is increasingly focusing on building domestic capabilities in the sector. “UK has a long history of very strong R&D strengths and we do quite a lot of work in various areas of advanced materials and critical minerals, and this is an emerging area for India where Indian companies Indian businesses are looking to develop or contribute to India's self-sufficiency,” he said adding “the UK is also looking to ensure that its own critical minerals and advanced materials ecosystem is self-sufficient…there is plenty of opportunity here for us to work together.”

Existing Frameworks for Cooperation

Pointing to the India-UK Free Trade Agreement and the Technology Security Initiative, he said the two countries already have avenues to deepen cooperation and strengthen the security of their critical minerals and advanced materials ecosystems. The UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA), formally known as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), came into effect on July 15, 2026. Under the agreement, 99 per cent of Indian goods entering the UK and 90 per cent of UK goods entering India will either be duty-free or benefit from reduced tariffs.

Canada's Role as a Minerals Superpower

Earlier, speaking on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, Canadian High Commissioner Christopher Cooter said Canada is a critical minerals superpower and is looking to forge key agreements in the sector. "Canada is kind of a critical mineral superpower and we are accelerating very rapidly our production of critical minerals. In all of the, our lists are slightly different from your list of critical minerals, but I think we have every single one of the critical minerals that you list,” he said, adding, “We've got them in abundance in Canada. So we're looking to have agreements both to purchase some of our critical minerals, but even more importantly, to invest in each other's supply chains, so that the processing, the integration to advanced technologies, which this conference is talking about, can take place both in Canada and in India. That's the future that we see.” (ANI)