Kyrgyzstan's key minerals: Before Modi's visit to Japan and China, India's Foreign Secretary: Hopes to strengthen cooperation in key minerals under the US-Japan-India-Australia mechanism
On the eve of Indian Prime Minister Modi's visit to Japan, New Delhi said on Tuesday that the leaders of India and Japan hope to further strengthen cooperation on key minerals and other issues under the Quad mechanism.
India's Foreign Secretary Tandon said at a press conference before Modi's visit to Japan from August 29 to 30 that despite tensions between India and another Quad member - the United States, India still highly values this mechanism.
Previously, US President Trump decided to impose tariffs of up to 50% on Indian goods exported to the US, mainly to respond to India's purchase of Russian oil and its resistance to opening its agricultural sector. This has seriously damaged the diplomatic breakthroughs and trust between the US and India over the past decade.
This has in turn raised doubts about whether India's plan to host the Quad summit later this year will proceed as scheduled. The last Quad summit was held in September 2024 in the United States.
Tandon pointed out that India is still negotiating with the US on the tariff issue and is eager to continue expanding cooperation with Quad countries. He said, "The Quad is indeed an important platform for promoting peace, stability, prosperity, and development in the Indo-Pacific region." Tandon also mentioned that one of the goals of the Quad is to cooperate in the field of key minerals, and he called it a common priority for India and Japan.
Tandon introduced that "recently, there have been overall discussions on initiatives related to key minerals, aimed at enhancing supply chain resilience and promoting infrastructure development," but did not reveal specific details. Reuters reported in June that India had asked a state-owned mining company to suspend a 13-year-old agreement to export rare earths to Japan and ensure domestic rare earth supplies to reduce dependence on China.
India's exports of rare earths are not high. Analysts say that India lacks the technology and infrastructure for large-scale mining or processing of rare earths. Rare earth elements consist of 17 elements and are widely used in various products ranging from lasers, military equipment, electric vehicles, wind turbines, and consumer electronics magnets.
Tandon pointed out that since 2014, when Modi became Prime Minister of India, this will be his eighth visit to Japan. At that time, Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba may introduce several new initiatives to address "new opportunities and challenges." However, Tandon did not reveal specific details.
Modi attended the launch ceremony of electric vehicles by Japanese automaker Suzuki in Gujarat, western India on Tuesday. Suzuki also announced an investment of about $8 billion in India. After ending his visit to Japan, Modi will fly to Tianjin to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, which will also be his first visit to China in more than seven years.
Source: rfi
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1841567590481930/
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