Pakistan Excluded from US Critical Minerals Meet Despite Efforts; India Attends

• Pakistan was not invited to the Global Minerals Conference in Washington on February 4, which India's EAM S Jaishankar will attend.
• This exclusion comes despite Pakistan's months-long efforts to showcase its rare-earth minerals to the US, including PM Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Asim Munir presenting rare earths to Donald Trump.
• Pakistan aimed to position itself as an alternative supply source for rare earths, reducing US reliance on China, and floated partnerships with American mining companies.
• The country's outreach was a strategic pivot from security-focused relations to economic geostrategy, highlighting estimated $6 trillion in untapped reserves.
• US policymakers consider political stability, policy continuity, and investment protection, areas where Pakistan faces a 'reliability gap' due to frequent political churn and civil-military tensions.

Why It Matters: Despite Pakistan's extensive efforts to attract US interest in its critical minerals, it was excluded from a key conference, while India was invited.