PIB TrackerIndia and Australia launch PACTS to secure supply chains, critical technology and cyberspace
The two countries unveiled the Australia-India Partnership on Cyber, Critical Technologies and Supply Chains (PACTS) — replacing their 2020 framework — with five pillars covering supply-chain resilience, critical minerals, semiconductors, undersea cables and cyber security.
What happened
- India and Australia launched the Partnership on Cyber, Critical Technologies and Supply Chains (PACTS), which replaces their 2020 Framework.
- PACTS aims to make critical supply chains more resilient, empower digital choices and strengthen global cyber resilience, with democratic values built in.
- It is organised under five interrelated pillars, spanning the private sector, universities, research institutions and government.
- Pillar 1 (Supply Chain Resilience) covers trusted-vendor frameworks, semiconductors, critical minerals and undersea cables.
- Undersea-cable cooperation links to the Quad Partnership for Cable Connectivity and Resilience, with critical-minerals work via coordinated investment and recycling.
For Prelims
- Critical technologies: Strategically important tech — semiconductors, AI, quantum, telecom/5G, undersea cables — where supply-chain security is a national-security issue.
- Critical minerals: Minerals like lithium, cobalt, rare earths essential for batteries, electronics and defence; Australia is a major supplier and India runs a Critical Minerals Mission.
- Undersea cables: Submarine fibre-optic cables carry ~99% of intercontinental data; their security is an emerging strategic concern (the Quad has a cable-connectivity partnership).
- Trusted-vendor framework: Screening technology suppliers for security and trust (e.g. in 5G/telecom) to keep untrusted vendors out of critical networks.
- Quad tech agenda: The Quad's Critical and Emerging Technology working group and cable-resilience partnership provide the multilateral backdrop to PACTS.
- Don't confuse: PACTS is a bilateral technology/supply-chain partnership, not a trade agreement or a defence pact — though it complements both.
For UPSC: Use PACTS to frame technology sovereignty and supply-chain security as core to national security — semiconductors, critical minerals, undersea cables and trusted vendors as the new geopolitics of tech. Anchor India's Semiconductor Mission and Critical Minerals Mission, the Quad's tech agenda, and 'de-risking' resilient supply chains among trusted partners.
What it is NOT: This is a bilateral technology-and-supply-chain framework (a renamed, upgraded 2020 arrangement), not a binding treaty, trade deal or defence pact. It sets pillars and intended projects; specific outcomes follow. It complements the Quad's tech agenda rather than replacing it.
For Mains
Syllabus: GS3.13 · GS3.18 · Linkage L2
Anchor
Technology and supply-chain security as national security — de-risking semiconductors, critical minerals, cables and cyberspace among trusted partners.
Substantiation (data)
PACTS (replacing the 2020 Framework): five pillars; Pillar 1 on supply-chain resilience — trusted vendors, semiconductors, critical minerals, undersea cables (via the Quad cable partnership).
Exemplification
Critical-minerals cooperation (investment, recycling), semiconductor supply-chain protection and undersea-cable resilience as concrete deliverables.
Problematisation
Building trusted supply chains needs investment, standards alignment and scale; India must grow domestic capability (chips, minerals) to be a genuine node, not just a market.
Way-forward
Link PACTS to the Semiconductor and Critical Minerals Missions, co-invest with Australia, and shape trusted-vendor and cable-security norms via the Quad.
Position
India's stance: resilient, trusted, values-based technology supply chains as a pillar of strategic autonomy and Indo-Pacific security.
Deploys into: Awareness in IT, space and new technology — critical tech and semiconductors (GS3.13) · cyber security and challenges to internal security through communication networks (GS3.18) · critical minerals, undersea cables, trusted-vendor frameworks and the Quad's technology agenda.
Prime Minister's Office · 2026-07-09 · PRID 2282692 · PIB source ↗