Modi's Namibia Visit Direct Counter To China's Grip On Critical Minerals

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The visit was aimed at forming direct, resilient, and mutually beneficial supply chains that bypass traditional intermediaries and, more importantly, Chinese geopolitical leverage
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Namibia had a definite purpose. Namibia is a country with a ton of critical rare earth mineral deposits, including uranium. That uranium is key to ensuring India's energy security.
The other move at play is to break Chinese dominance of the rare earth minerals, which has been hurting Indian industries. China has been spooked by a plethora of corporations leaving its soil and settling in India under pressure from Washington, and especially Donald Trump's policies. As a result, China has been playing spoilsport and has restricted exports and controlled the supply of rare earth minerals to throttle Indian industries catering to the growing demand for production and manufacturing.
Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit, India's High Commissioner to Namibia, Rahul Shrivastava, said that India is looking to import uranium from the African country and mentioned that the recent oil and gas discoveries in Namibia are also an area of interest for New Delhi. The PM's visit to Namibia was part of his first five-nation visit, which also included a triumph of India's agenda at BRICS, where Modi's call for collective action to prevent the 'monopolisation or weaponisation" of critical minerals set the tone for the visit to the African nation.
The Anatomy of a Strategic Chokehold
The necessity of this pushback cannot be overstated. China's dominance in the critical minerals sector is the outcome of a deliberate, long-term state strategy designed to create global dependency. The statistics show the nature of control. Beijing controls between 90 and 95% of the world's rare earth processing capacity and a staggering 90% of the global supply chain for rare earth permanent magnets. These components are indispensable to modern industry, powering everything from electric vehicles and wind turbines to advanced defence electronics.
This near-monopoly of the rare earth minerals has been weaponised with increasing precision. Since mid-2023, Beijing has systematically imposed export controls on materials fundamental to India's high-tech manufacturing, beginning with gallium and germanium and later expanding to include graphite, directly impacting India's battery and clean energy sectors.
The pressure has been over the top, with the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) characterising these measures as a strategic wake-up call for New Delhi. In a particularly pointed example from June this year, Chinese battery manufacturer CATL reportedly directed Foxconn to withdraw all its Chinese engineers from a facility near Chennai, a move calculated to disrupt operations at a critical time for India's electronics supply chain expansion.
This dependency inflicts direct economic pain. In fiscal year 2024, Indian industry imported around 460 tonnes of rare earth magnets, almost exclusively from China, a figure expected to surge towards 700 tonnes. This one-sided reliance is a primary driver of India's burgeoning trade deficit with China, which has swelled to USD 100 billion. For India's strategic sectors, this is not merely a trade imbalance; it is an externally controlled throttle on national ambition.
Where Namibia Comes In
It is within this high-stakes context that Namibia emerges as the linchpin of India's diversification strategy. The southern African nation is a repository of immense strategic wealth. As one of the world's top three uranium producers and possessing significant, largely untapped deposits of lithium, cobalt, and other rare earth elements, Namibia holds the keys to the very resources China has sought to control.
The core objective of Modi's visit was therefore to establish direct, resilient, and mutually beneficial supply chains that bypass both traditional intermediaries and, more importantly, Chinese geopolitical leverage.
A central agenda item was the revitalisation of a 2009 uranium supply agreement that has, until now, seen limited follow-through. With India's civilian nuclear programme expanding to meet growing energy demands, a secure and structured fuel supply from a reliable partner is a non-negotiable imperative.
MEA Secretary Dammu Ravi noted that Namibia is being looked at as more than just a supplier. It is a result of the deeper strategic alignment that India wants to build with the African continent as a whole, where Africa's mineral wealth is viewed as integral to India's clean-tech goals. The discussions, therefore, focused on creating long-term bilateral frameworks for exploration, mining, and supply, backed by Indian investment.
The engagement in Windhoek is the build-up of the same broader strategic vision. The Confederation of Indian Industry projects that Indian investments in Africa could reach $150 billion by 2030, signalling that the current mineral diplomacy is the beginning of a long-term, comprehensive partnership.
The approach is rooted in capacity building and shared economic progress, which offers a compelling alternative to the models of engagement that have raised concerns across the continent, i.e., China's debt-trap diplomacy.
A Diplomatic Counteroffensive Against Beijing
India's strategy is being executed across multiple fronts, combining bilateral engagement with multilateral diplomacy. At the 17th BRICS Summit, Prime Minister Modi's call for collective action to prevent the 'monopolisation or weaponisation" of critical minerals signalled India's intention in Africa and globally. The message was an unambiguous admonition of China's actions, demonstrating India's willingness to challenge Beijing's behaviour even within forums where China is a dominant member.
In parallel, India is diligently building alliances with other key powers. Its participation in the recently announced Quad Critical Minerals Initiative with the United States, Japan, and Australia is a complementary and crucial line of effort. This dual-track approach, advocating for fair-trade principles within groupings like BRICS while simultaneously building robust, alternative supply networks with strategic partners, shows an agile and sophisticated foreign policy with many levers to pull as required. It is a calculated manoeuvre to balance China's influence while reinforcing India's ambitions as a leader in the green economy.
This entire diplomatic effort rests on a bedrock of historical goodwill. India was a steadfast champion of Namibian independence at the UN, and the SWAPO liberation movement's first foreign mission was established in New Delhi in 1986. This legacy of a partnership between equals provides a powerful contrast to other external powers.
The fact that Chinese companies already hold majority ownership in two of Namibia's most productive radioactive element mines underscores the urgency of Modi's visit. It is a direct and timely countermove in a competition that is already well underway on African soil. The goal is clear: to ensure India's strategic autonomy is not compromised at the hands of a single, dominant power, in China or even the United States.
About the Author
Sohil Sinha
Sohil Sinha is a Sub Editor at News18. He writes on foreign affairs, geopolitics along with domestic policy and infrastructure projects.
tags :
China Namibia Narendra Modi
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New Delhi, India, India
First Published:
July 10, 2025, 07:00 IST
News opinion Modi's Namibia Visit Direct Counter To China's Grip On Critical Minerals
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