New Delhi, May 26 -- India and the United States on Tuesday signed a bilateral framework aimed at securing the supply, mining, and processing of critical minerals and rare earth elements.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar announced the landmark agreement, highlighting its strategic importance in a highly contested global landscape following bilateral discussions and the Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting.

"We are today signing a bilateral India-US framework on securing supplies of mining and processing of critical minerals and rare earths," Jaishankar said.

Emphasising that the issue was also a key point of discussion during the Quad meeting, the minister noted that securing these resources is "very timely and critical," regardless o...