External affairs minister S. Jaishankar met his American counterpart Marco Rubio and US treasury secretary Scott Bessent in Washington on Tuesday against the backdrop of the announcement of the trade deal.

A readout of the Jaishankar-Rubio meeting from the US state department said the two discussed formalising bilateral cooperation on critical minerals exploration, mining and processing.

Welcoming the trade deal reached between Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the two leaders emphasised the importance of India and the US working together to unlock new economic opportunities and advance shared energy security goals, it said.

They reiterated their commitment to expanding bilateral and multilateral cooperation through the Quad while acknowledging that a prosperous Indo-Pacific region remains vital to advancing shared interests.

In an X post, Rubio said he met Jaishankar to "discuss our bilateral cooperation on critical minerals exploration and work together to unlock new economic opportunities between our two countries. We also commended the trade deal between the United States and India".

There was no readout from the Indian external affairs ministry on the meeting.

In a post on X, Jaishankar said: "Delighted to meet US @SecRubio this afternoon. A wide-ranging conversation that covered our bilateral cooperation agenda, regional and global issues. Facets of India-US Strategic Partnership discussed included trade, energy, nuclear, defence, critical minerals and technology. Agreed on the early meetings of various mechanisms to advance our shared interests."

Jaishankar also met Bessent, who said on X: "During our talks, we addressed the importance of securing supply chains as well as other national and economic security issues of mutual interest."

Jaishankar is in the US essentially to participate in the inaugural critical minerals ministerial that has been convened by Rubio.