Tag Geopolitical

The New Oil: Critical and Rare Earth Minerals, their Emerging Geopolitics and India’s Strategic Crossroads

The New Oil: Critical and Rare Earth Minerals, their Emerging Geopolitics and India’s Strategic Crossroads 

Critical minerals, from lithium and cobalt to rare earth elements, have become linchpins of the modern economy. They are the new oil of the twenty-first century for electric vehicles, semiconductors, solar panels, wind turbines, and advanced batteries and are critical for not only clean energy but also medical, defence, and aerospace. Critical minerals are also crucial for developing the digital and the green economy. But what are critical minerals exactly?

Navigating the New Norm: China’s Assertiveness and India’s Response Reshaping Asian Geopolitics

On India’s part, it has stood up to the China challenge on several fronts.

At the 2024 iteration of Raisina Dialogue, Asia’s premier conference on geopolitics, China featured prominently in the discussions, given that there has been a tense standoff at the border between the Indian and Chinese armies for nearly four years. The clashes between the two armies in Galwan in 2020, which resulted in fatalities of on both sides, is an important turning point in the relations between the two Asian powers. Foreign minister S Jaishankar deconstructed China’s approach in dealing with India. He said that while China tried to change the status quo at the border in the process violating the agreements to which it is a signatory, it was trying to stymie India’s bid to get a permanent seat in the UN Security Council. The minister alluded to China deploying mind games to resolve border issues with India, but that the breakthrough would come about only if other powers were kept at bay. Underlining India’s response to these developments, Jaishankar stated that India would not let a competitor curtail its policy choices, and that his government would look to make use of the international system for the best outcome.

Summit of Council (SCO): Strengthens India’s Geopolitical Ties

In an unanticipated move, New Delhi has decided to host the 23rd Summit of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) virtually on July 4, 2023, rather than in person. India, the current chair of the eight-member grouping, has also invited the three Observer States and the heads of six regional and international organisations to participate in the summit hosted by prime minister Narendra Modi. Since assuming the rotating presidency at the historical city of Samarkand last year, New Delhi used its diplomatic capital to host 134 events, including 14 ministerial-level meetings to pursue the often-blurred regional collaboration and cooperation agenda of this divergent and antagonistic grouping. However, the decision to host the annual summit online has indicated India’s disappointment with what is increasingly emerging as a fragmented grouping being used by China to pursue its hegemonic interests.

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