Editorial: India’s diplomatic outreach for rare earths

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to African and Latin American countries was, in a way, a novel diplomatic outreach to scout for rare earth markets

As China doesn’t hesitate to weaponise its supply chain dominance in the rare earths sector, India must reduce its dependence on Beijing for these critical minerals, which are integral to modern living. Amid the ongoing trade war with the United States, China, which controls over 90 per cent of these resources, has suspended exports of rare earth elements, which are critical for technologies in every conceivable field — be it smartphones, missiles, MRI scanners, electric cars, defence equipment or LED lights. India has done well to explore opportunities in other international markets to gain access to the Rare Earth Elements (REE). Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to African and Latin American countries was, in a way, a novel diplomatic outreach to scout for rare earth markets. It is no coincidence that his itinerary involved the countries that are rich in resources. The African leg of his tour covered Ghana and Namibia, which are well known for mineral deposits of all kinds. Despite China having made inroads in terms of influence and investments in Africa, these two nations have longstanding ties with India. In the case of Ghana, the relationship goes back to the Non-Aligned Movement days. The proposals for investments to develop mineral resources in collaboration with Indian companies are now being viewed favourably. Ghana has recently discovered large reserves of lithium. As far as Namibia is concerned, India had steadfastly supported its independence movement. The highlight of the PM’s visit was collaboration in mineral exploration as well as digital financial infrastructure.

Namibia can be a valuable ally in providing resources like uranium for India’s nuclear energy programme. The focus was on resources during the Latin American leg of the trip as well. Indian state-owned companies have already begun collaborating in the exploration and mining of Argentina’s huge lithium reserves. Argentina forms part of what is known as the Lithium Triangle. Other members of this triad are Bolivia and Chile. This resource-linked diplomacy is a pragmatic effort to ensure that the country’s development is not hindered at any stage by a shortage of these critical minerals. Fast-growing economies like India require them to produce a wide range of equipment. The realisation that sources for long-term supplies need to be tied up, like in the case of fossil fields, has apparently prompted the latest round of diplomatic outreach. At the same time, there is a strong case for India to step up exploration and processing of minerals within the country. It has one of the largest reserves of rare earths — the fifth in the world at 6.9 million tonnes — but there have been no efforts in the past for the exploitation of these resources. There is a need to liberalise mining restrictions and attract private investments to reduce imports. However, while doing so, care must be taken to protect the environment by adopting cleaner methods of mining and processing.

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