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The commerce ministry has said that members of the 14-nation bloc IPEF have 'substantially' concluded the negotiations on the supply chains agreement, including improving logistics and connectivity; promoting investments in critical sectors and cooperation for mitigation of disruptions to ensure business continuity. The IPEF was launched jointly by the US and other partner countries of the Indo-Pacific region on May 23 in Tokyo. The framework is structured around four pillars relating to trade, supply chains, clean economy and fair economy (issues like tax and anti-corruption). India has joined all the pillars except the trade one.

The proposed agreement on supply chains aims to increase the resilience, efficiency, productivity, sustainability, transparency, diversification, security, fairness and inclusivity of their supply chains through collaborative activities and individual actions taken by each IPEF partner. IPEF partners will undertake the necessary steps, including further domestic consultations and a legal review, to prepare a final text of the proposed IPEF supply chain agreement. 

Once finalised, the proposed agreement will be subject to IPEF partners' domestic processes for signature, followed by ratification, acceptance or approval. Under this pact, the partners also seek to improve crisis coordination and response to supply chain disruptions and work together to support the timely delivery of affected goods during a crisis.