India joins the U.S.-led "Silicon Peace" initiative.

On February 20, 2026, on the final day of the India AI Impact Summit, India's Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, signed the agreement to join the Silicon-based Peace Initiative at the Bharat Mandapam Convention Center in New Delhi. U.S. Ambassador to India Sergio Gore and Deputy Secretary of State Jacob Helberg attended the ceremony. This move formally integrates India—the world's fifth-largest economy—into a U.S.-led strategic alliance aimed at restructuring critical supply chains for artificial intelligence and semiconductors.

Geopolitical considerations behind the agreement

On the surface, this appears to be a diplomatic activity centered on technological cooperation. However, analysts believe that this agreement also reflects the recent easing of India-U.S. relations. Over the past few years, India significantly increased its imports of Russian crude oil, which once sparked dissatisfaction in Washington. Earlier this month, former U.S. President Trump announced that if India stops purchasing Russian crude oil, the U.S. is willing to reduce its reciprocal import tariffs on India from 25% to 18% and cancel the additional tariffs imposed due to this issue. The easing of trade friction has paved the way for technological cooperation.

Looking deeper, India's accession to the Silicon Peace represents an adjustment in its strategic autonomous foreign policy. New Delhi has not entirely abandoned its energy relations with Russia, but on the issue of technological supply chains that determine future economic growth, it has chosen to clearly align with the United States. Before the signing, U.S. Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti stated: "The Silicon Peace will be a coalition of nations that believe technology should be used to empower free people and free markets. India's participation is strategic, it is essential." These remarks highlight the ideological tone of the initiative—building a technological network of like-minded nations.

The Silicon Peace Initiative was first proposed in December 2025 at a private gathering at the Trump Institute for Peace in Washington, D.C., led by the U.S. Department of State. Initial members included Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, Israel, the United Kingdom, Australia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. These nations all possess advanced technology industries or critical strategic resources. The name "Silica" in the initiative refers to silicon, the foundational material for semiconductor chips, while "Pax" borrows from historical concepts such as Pax Romana, suggesting its aim to establish a U.S.-led new technological order.

The Essence of "Silicon Peace": Supply Chain "De-risking"

According to the framework document released by the U.S. Department of State, Silicon Peace aims to establish a secure technology ecosystem covering critical minerals, energy, advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, artificial intelligence infrastructure, and logistics. Members commit to jointly protecting technology supply chains and exploring joint investments. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Helberg was more direct in an interview with CNBC: 'Silicon Peace' is about the United States. We need to ensure supply chain security. India is a partner helping us reduce risks and achieve diversification.

This reveals the core objective of the initiative: to reduce the global high-tech industry's excessive reliance on a single region. Currently, over 75% of global semiconductor manufacturing capacity is concentrated in East Asia, with Taiwan, China, holding a dominant position, while Mainland China wields significant influence in critical mineral processing and certain chip manufacturing. This concentration is viewed as a strategic vulnerability. In early 2026, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, UAE, secretly acquired a 49% stake in a cryptocurrency enterprise linked to the Trump family. Several months later, the United States agreed to supply the UAE with 500,000 advanced AI chips annually. Such incidents have heightened Washington's concerns regarding technology transfer and supply chain credibility.

In response, a specific measure has been introduced under the Silicon Peace Framework: the U.S. Department of State will pilot a concierge service to help signatory countries more efficiently access U.S.-made AI chips. Helberg explained that the service will leverage the State Department's diplomatic network to provide procurement advisory support to trusted government and industry leaders. This essentially turns our diplomats into commercial development officers for U.S. AI, streamlining processes to ensure American technology secures contracts. Critics argue that this blurs the line between government and the market.

India's Gains and Costs

For India, joining the Silicon-based Peace is a meticulously calculated transaction. The most immediate benefit is access to advanced technology and investment channels. India possesses a vast pool of software talent but remains in a catch-up phase in areas such as semiconductor manufacturing and high-end AI hardware. The Modi government's "Make in India" and "Digital India" strategies urgently need breakthroughs in the chip industry. Becoming a link in a trusted supply chain means India is poised to attract semiconductor investments from countries like the United States, Japan, and South Korea, and gain easier access to cutting-edge chips for training AI models.

Data confirms this demand. India's semiconductor consumption relies almost entirely on imports, and the contradiction between the growth of its electronics manufacturing industry and the security of chip supply is becoming increasingly prominent. Through Silicon Diplomacy, India can participate in a more complete industrial chain—from chip design to packaging and testing—rather than merely serving as a consumer market. The United States and Japan have already committed to collaborating on building semiconductor packaging and testing facilities in India, which represents India's first step into the global chip value chain.

However, gains come with costs. India has long been a leader of the Non-Aligned Movement and an important member of BRICS, maintaining multilateral cooperation with countries such as Russia, China, Brazil, and South Africa. Joining an exclusive club widely seen as targeting China's technological rise and led by the United States is bound to put pressure on its relations with Beijing. Despite border disputes between China and India, China remains one of India's largest trading partners. India needs to strike a balance between technological cooperation with the West and economic ties with the East.

Additionally, India's domestic industrial policies are also under pressure for adjustment. The Silicon-based Peace Framework emphasizes intellectual property protection, cross-border data flow, and trusted network standards, which may conflict with India's policies of protecting its domestic market and promoting data localization. Whether India can integrate into the Western technological system while preserving policy autonomy and fostering the growth of local tech enterprises will be a long-term challenge.

The global technology landscape is moving toward "bloc formation."

India's accession to the Silicon-Based Peace marks a significant milestone in global deconstruction. This indicates that efficiency and cost-oriented global supply chains are gradually being replaced by ally-centric supply chains defined by security, trustworthiness, and shared values. As the cornerstones of the 21st-century economy, the supply chain configurations of artificial intelligence and semiconductors will directly influence the balance of national power for decades to come.

This trend is not isolated. During the same period, the European Union passed the European Chips Act, planning to invest over 430 billion euros to enhance local chip production capacity; mainland China continues to increase its independent R&D investments in areas such as third-generation semiconductors and mature process manufacturing. The world is forming multiple parallel and competing technology ecosystems: one is the democratic technology circle centered around the United States and its allies; another is the self-reliant and controllable circle centered around mainland China, extending to Southeast Asia, parts of Latin America, and African countries; while the European Union seeks to pursue a strategically autonomous middle path.

This trend of bloc formation may lead to three potential impacts: First, global technological innovation costs could rise due to redundant construction and fragmented standards. Second, developing countries may be forced to take sides, facing more difficult choices between accessing technology and pursuing economic development. Third, the coupling between technological competition and geopolitical friction will deepen, with new frontiers such as cyberspace and outer space potentially becoming focal points of new rivalries.

The signing ceremony in New Delhi has concluded, and the chain reaction has just begun. India's choice has infused geopolitical weight and market scale into silicon-based peace, transforming it from a conceptual initiative into a practically binding supply chain network. In the coming years, whether this alliance can translate declarations into concrete joint investments, technology sharing, and crisis response mechanisms will be key to judging the success or failure of the restructuring of the global technological order. For India, the true test lies in whether it can enjoy the dividends of its allies while still preserving sufficient strategic maneuvering space for itself amid the strategic competition between the United States and China. This game revolving around silicon wafers has begun, and its outcome will define the power dynamics of the next era.