Quad launches critical minerals push as PM eyes Latin America deals

Business Standard

3 days ago

In Washington DC on Wednesday (India time), the foreign ministers of the four-member Quad grouping launched the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative to ensure the availability of critical minerals. The fresh initiative comes amid concerns over China's coercive tactics, including price manipulation in the sector.
The statement issued after the meeting did not name China, but the foreign ministers of India, Japan and Australia, along with the US Secretary of State, said they were 'deeply concerned about the abrupt constriction and future reliability of key supply chains, specifically for critical minerals'.
Earlier that day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on a week-long foreign visit to five countries, with officials stating that expanding cooperation in critical minerals—including rare earth elements—will be high on the agenda in his meetings with the leaders of at least four of those nations. Barring Trinidad and Tobago, the PM's other destinations—Ghana, Namibia, Argentina and Brazil—are rich in mineral and energy resources. This marks the first bilateral visit in several decades by an Indian prime minister to some of these countries.
Regarding his visit to Argentina, the PM said in his departure statement that it would be the first such bilateral visit in 57 years. He said discussions with Argentinian President Javier Milei would focus on advancing mutually beneficial cooperation in critical minerals, as well as in agriculture, trade, tourism, technology and energy.
Argentina holds the world's second-largest shale gas reserves and fourth-largest shale oil reserves, along with substantial conventional oil and gas deposits—making it a potentially important energy partner for India in the future, said P Kumaran, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), at a press briefing on Monday.
On critical minerals, the Quad ministers underscored the importance of diversified and reliable global supply chains. 'Reliance on any one country for processing and refining critical minerals and derivative goods production exposes our industries to economic coercion, price manipulation, and supply chain disruptions, which further harms our economic and national security,' they said.
The ministers also announced new initiatives in four areas: maritime and transnational security, economic prosperity and security, critical and emerging technology, and humanitarian assistance and disaster response.
The joint statement said the Quad 'unequivocally condemns all acts of terrorism and violent extremism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism'. It 'condemned in the strongest terms' the Pahalgam terrorist attack. However, it did not name Pakistan or Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group India has said carried out the attack.
The Quad Critical Minerals Initiative aims to strengthen economic security and collective resilience by collaborating to secure and diversify critical mineral supply chains. The ministers said they looked forward to coordinating with private sector partners to facilitate increased investment in this sector.
The meeting was attended by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya.
At the MEA press briefing on Monday, officials said the PM's visit to Ghana—the first by an Indian PM in 30 years—will focus on expanding cooperation in critical minerals. His visit to Namibia—the first in 27 years—will similarly emphasise mineral collaboration.
India's investments in Namibia total around $800 million, primarily in minerals such as zinc and diamond processing. 'Namibia is a very resource-rich country. It has natural resources of uranium, copper, cobalt, rare earths in large numbers, lithium, graphite, tantalum—and all of these are of interest to us,' said Dammu Ravi, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the MEA.
Kumaran said Modi's bilateral visit to Brazil on July 8 would also focus on mining and critical minerals. Modi will be in Argentina on July 4 and 5. Besides shale gas, Argentina has rich reserves of critical minerals such as lithium, copper and other rare earth elements. India's public sector firm Khanij Bidesh India Limited (KABIL) has already secured concessions in Argentina since 2024.
KABIL and the National Mineral Development Corporation are actively exploring opportunities in Africa. 'In this context, the PM's visits to both Ghana and Namibia become very important,' Ravi said.
Kumaran noted that Argentina is part of the Lithium Triangle, which includes Argentina, Chile and Bolivia. India is in talks with all three countries, as well as Peru, to acquire mining concessions for lithium, molybdenum and other critical minerals. Between KABIL and Coal India Limited, Indian PSUs have secured four concessions in Argentina's Catamarca province.
Indian firms are working with the Argentinian provincial PSU CAMYEN, partnering to develop these sites and extract lithium for refining and use in India. In addition, there is growing private sector interest in rare earth minerals in Argentina.