Editorial 1: ​An exploration of India’s minerals diplomacy

Context

India must leverage a country-by-country strategy to strengthen resilience across the entire value chain.

Introduction

Today, India’s clean energy transition is inextricably linked to access to imported critical minerals and rare earths. The need is immediate, and China’s tightening export controls have only intensified the urgency. Like other countries globally, India is prioritising diversification of mineral trade linkages, promoting responsible and sustainable production, and building transparent, standards-based markets to secure its energy future.

Balancing Domestic Capacity and Global Access

• India requires a two-pronged strategy that builds long-term domestic capability while securing immediate access to critical resources abroad.
• Recognising this need, New Delhi has, over the past five years, forged nearly a dozen bilateral and multilateral partnerships across continents.
• At the same time, it has strengthened domestic mineral policies to support self-reliance.
• The key question is what these engagements have delivered for India and whether a strategic recalibration is now necessary.

The Two Sides of Partnerships

Australia: a dependable anchor

• Among India’s partners, Australia stands out as the most reliable, combining political stability, large mineral reserves, and a clear strategic outlook.
• Cooperation has moved beyond intent to long-term supply discussions, joint research, and targeted investments.
• Under the India–Australia Critical Minerals Investment Partnership (2022), five lithium and cobalt projectswere identified for potential investment.

Japan: a model for resilience

• Japan offers a template for long-term resilience, grounded in institutional planning rather than reactive deals.
• After China restricted rare-earth exports a decade ago, Japan pursued diversification, stockpiling, recycling, and sustained R&D.
• Beyond its long-standing cooperation with Indian Rare Earths Limited, the partnership now extends to joint extraction, processing, and stockpiling, including in third countries, under a cooperation agreement signed last year.

Africa: opportunity with conditions

• Africa, with its mineral abundance and rising demand for local value addition, presents significant opportunities given India’s historical trade ties.
• Recent agreements with Namibia (lithium, rare earths, uranium) and acquisition talks in Zambia (copper, cobalt) signal a renewed push.
• India must engage Africa with a long-term industrial mindset, or risk losing ground to more coordinated competitors.

United States: potential amid volatility

• Despite earlier enthusiasm around “friend-shoring”, cooperation with the United States has largely remained at the level of dialogue.
• Tariffs on Indian goods, shifting trade rules, and Inflation Reduction Act incentives complicate stable engagement.
• While the U.S. could be a key technology and downstream innovation partner, policy volatility limits reliability.
• Initiatives such as TRUST and the Strategic Minerals Recovery Initiative outline possible collaboration on rare-earth processing, battery recycling, and clean separation technologies.

European Union: standards-driven alignment

• The European Union demonstrates how regulation, sustainability, and industrial strategy can reinforce each other through tools like the Critical Raw Materials Act and the European Battery Alliance.
• Meaningful progress will require India to align with EU expectations on transparency, lifecycle standards, and environmental norms.

West Asia: midstream promise, thin frameworks

• West Asia holds promise but lacks deep institutional and long-term frameworks.
• Countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are investing heavily in battery materials, refining capacity, and green hydrogen, with sovereign funds acquiring mining assets abroad.
• For India, the region could emerge as an important midstream processing partner.

Russia: a hedge, not a base

• Russia possesses substantial reserves of rare earths, cobalt, and lithium, and shares long-standing scientific ties with India.
• However, sanctions, financing constraints, and logistical uncertainty limit dependability.
• Russia can serve as a strategic hedge, but not the foundation of India’s critical mineral strategy.

New frontiers

A. Latin America as a strategic focus

• Expanded engagement across Argentina, Chile, Peru and increasingly Brazil
• These countries are becoming central to global strategies for copper, nickel and rare earths
• Indian public and private sector investments have increased in exploration and mining projects
• Khanij Bidesh India Limited (KABIL) has signed a ₹200 crore exploration and development agreement with Argentina
• Competition is intense, and India’s engagement is still at an early stage
• A sustained presence will require value-chain partnerships, local processing, and beyond extraction-only agreements

B. Canada as an emerging partner

• With the restoration of diplomatic ties, Canada re-emerges as a key minerals partner
• Canada holds significant reserves of nickel, cobalt, copper and rare earths
• A recent trilateral agreement with Australia and India strengthens cooperation potential
• Political stability and consistent relations will be crucial to realise long-term collaboration

Develop integrated partnerships

• Securing ore alone is insufficient; the real choke point is processing, especially refining and midstream capacity
• Without domestic refining and midstream capability, India remains vulnerable to supply-chain disruptions
• Technology, innovation and on-ground execution matter more than announcements
• India must pursue a country-by-country strategy to build resilience across the entire value chain
• Upstream extraction focus: Africa, Australia, Canada, Latin America
• Midstream processing hubs: West Asia (the Gulf) and Japan
• Downstream technology and recycling: European Union and the United States
• Diversification partner: Russia
  • While cooperation with South Korea and Indonesia is important, India must first develop a clear strategic vision for existing partnerships
  • Outcomes will remain limited unless India strengthens its domestic framework for responsible mining
  • Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards and transparency are becoming decisive factors in global mineral partnerships

Conclusion

India has established an impressive network of critical minerals partnerships, reflecting strategic intent and growing global engagement. The priority now is to deepen arrangements that are delivering results, reassess partnerships that have underperformed, and place stronger emphasis on technology acquisition, processing capacity, and long-term supply certainty to translate diplomacy into durable outcomes.