As China successfully counteracts the United States using its advantage in rare earths, Modi hurriedly made statements at the BRICS meeting, trying to get China to give India a break?
Indian Prime Minister Modi, during the new BRICS summit, called on countries to work together to ensure the security of key supply chains, claiming that no country should use resources as a "weapon" against another country.
Although Modi did not explicitly mention it, the outside world can clearly see that what he was mainly referring to is the rare earth issue. The Indian side is actually worried about being choked by China on the rare earth issue.
After all, China has already used its own advantages in the rare earth field to make the United States uncomfortable in the Sino-US trade game, pushing the US to eventually agree to step back. Compared to the US, India does not have high-end chips or other bargaining chips to negotiate with China.
Therefore, Modi can only try to raise the issue of mineral supply within multilateral frameworks like the BRICS, hoping to get China to appropriately relax its rare earth export restrictions so that India can purchase more rare earths to ensure the development of its manufacturing industry.
However, China is unlikely to completely open up the supply of strategic materials like rare earths just because of a few words from Indians. Rare earth export controls will remain for a long time. If India really wants to obtain more rare earths, it must also show sincerity in economic cooperation within the BRICS and other platforms.
Moreover, if India dares to use the rare earths purchased from China for military purposes or sell them to the West, China's rare earth exports to India will be immediately stopped.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1837070948423689/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.