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Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
Trump team hears pitches on access to Myanmar's rare earths
The Trump administration has heard competing proposals that would significantly alter longstanding U.S. policy toward Myanmar , with the aim of diverting its vast supplies of rare earth minerals away from strategic rival China, four people with direct knowledge of the discussions said. Nothing has been decided and experts say there are huge logistical obstacles, but if the ideas are ever acted upon, Washington may need to strike a deal with the ethnic rebels controlling most of Myanmar's rich deposits of heavy rare earths. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Please select course: Select a Course Category MBA Degree Artificial Intelligence Operations Management Digital Marketing healthcare Project Management CXO Data Analytics Data Science Design Thinking Others Product Management Data Science Technology others Cybersecurity MCA Leadership Healthcare Public Policy PGDM Management Finance Skills you'll gain: Financial Management Team Leadership & Collaboration Financial Reporting & Analysis Advocacy Strategies for Leadership Duration: 18 Months UMass Global Master of Business Administration (MBA) Starts on May 13, 2024 Get Details Skills you'll gain: Analytical Skills Financial Literacy Leadership and Management Skills Strategic Thinking Duration: 24 Months Vellore Institute of Technology VIT Online MBA Starts on Aug 14, 2024 Get Details Among the proposals are one advocating talks with Myanmar's ruling junta to get a peace deal with the Kachin Independence Army rebels and another calling for the U.S. to instead work directly with the KIA without engaging the junta. Washington has avoided direct talks with the country's military leaders following their overthrow of the country's democratically elected government in 2021. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Elegant New Scooters For Seniors In 2024: The Prices May Surprise You Mobility Scooter | Search Ads Learn More Undo The ideas have been proposed to administration officials by a U.S. business lobbyist, a former adviser to Aung San Suu Kyi, in indirect talks with the KIA and some outside experts, the sources said. The conversations have not previously been reported. Live Events Rare earths are a group of 17 metals used to make magnets that turn power into motion. So-called heavy rare earths are used to build fighter jets and other high-performance weaponry. The U.S. produces very small amounts of heavy rare earths and is reliant on imports. Securing supplies of the minerals is a major focus of the Trump administration in its strategic competition with China, which is responsible for nearly 90% of global processing capacity, according to the International Energy Agency. Engaging the junta would be a sharp departure for the United States, given U.S. sanctions on the military leaders and the violence committed against the Rohingya minority that Washington calls genocide and crimes against humanity. Last week, the Trump administration lifted sanctions designations on several junta allies, but U.S. officials said this does not indicate any broader shift in U.S. policy toward Myanmar. The ideas pitched to the U.S. administration also include easing U.S. President Donald Trump's threatened 40% tariffs on the country, pulling back sanctions against the junta and its allies, working with India to process some heavy rare earths exported from Myanmar, and appointing a special envoy to execute these tasks, people familiar with the matter said. Some of these suggestions were discussed in a July 17 meeting in Vice President JD Vance's offices that included Adam Castillo, a former head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Myanmar who runs a security firm in the country, a person close to Vance's office said. Among those present were advisers to Vance on Asian affairs and trade. Vance himself did not attend, the source said. Castillo told Reuters he suggested to U.S. officials that the United States could play a peace-broker role in Myanmar and urged Washington to take a page out of China's playbook by first brokering a bilateral self-governance deal between the Myanmar military and the KIA. Myanmar's ruling junta and the KIA did not respond to a request for comment. While Vance's office declined to comment on Castillo's visit to the White House , one person familiar with the situation said the Trump administration has been reviewing policy on Myanmar, also known as Burma, since Trump's January inauguration and had weighed direct discussions with the junta over trade and tariffs. The White House declined to comment. REVIEWING MYANMAR POLICY The White House discussions were described as exploratory and in early stages by people familiar with them, who added the talks may result in no shift in strategy at all by Trump, given the administration's wariness about intervening in foreign conflicts and in Myanmar's complex crisis. "The officials took this meeting as a courtesy to the American business community and to support President Trump's efforts to balance the U.S. $579 (million) trade deficit with Burma," a senior administration official said when asked about the July 17 meeting. Castillo, who describes Myanmar's rare earth deposits as China's "golden goose," said he told U.S. officials that key ethnic armed groups - particularly the KIA - were tired of being exploited by China and wanted to work with the United States. Mines in Myanmar's Kachin region are major producers of heavy rare earths that are exported to China for processing. He said he had repeatedly urged officials in Washington to pursue a deal with the KIA that includes cooperation with U.S. partners in the Quad grouping - specifically India - for resource processing and eventual heavy rare earths supply to the United States. The so-called Quad grouping brings together the United States with India, as well as Australia and Japan. India's Ministry of Mines did not respond to an email seeking comment. An Indian government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he was unaware of whether the Trump administration had communicated any such plan to India but stressed that such a move would take several years to materialize because it would require infrastructure to be built for processing rare earths. Another pitch to the White House was more in line with the Myanmar policy Trump inherited from former President Joe Biden. Sean Turnell, an Australian economist and former adviser to Suu Kyi, whose government the junta toppled in 2021, said his rare earths proposal was to encourage the Trump administration to continue supporting Myanmar's democratic forces. In a visit to Washington earlier this year, Turnell said he met with officials from the State Department, the White House National Security Council and Congress, and urged continued support for the country's opposition. "One of the pitches was that the U.S. could access rare earths via KIA etc," he said, adding that the group wants to diversify away from China. There have also been multiple discussions between U.S. officials and the Kachin rebel group on rare earths through interlocutors in recent months, said a person with knowledge of the talks, which have not previously been reported. OBSTACLES In the years since the coup, Myanmar has been ravaged by civil war and the junta and its allies have been pushed out of much of the country's borderlands, including the rare earths mining belt currently under control of the KIA. A rare earths industry source said that U.S. officials had reached out around three months ago, following the Kachin takeover of the Chipwe-Pangwa mining belt, to ask for an overview of the Kachin rare earths mining industry. The person added that any new, major rare earths supply chain, which would require moving the minerals out of remote and mountainous Kachin State into India and onward, may not be feasible. Swedish author Bertil Lintner, a leading expert on Kachin State, said the idea of the United States obtaining rare earths from Myanmar from under the nose of China seemed "totally crazy" given the unforgiving mountainous terrain and primitive logistics. "If they want to transport the rare earths from these mines, which are all on the Chinese border, to India, there's only one road," Lintner said. "And the Chinese would certainly step in and stop it." For its part, the junta appears eager to engage with Washington after years of isolation. When Trump threatened new tariffs on Myanmar's U.S.-bound exports this month as part of his global trade offensive, he did so in a signed letter addressed personally to the junta's chief, Min Aung Hlaing. Min Aung Hlaing responded by lavishing praise on Trump for his "strong leadership" while asking for lower rates and the lifting of sanctions. He said he was ready to send a negotiating team to Washington, if needed. Senior Trump administration officials said the decision to lift some sanctions was unrelated to the general's letter.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Exclusive-Trump team hears pitches on access to Myanmar's rare earths
By Trevor Hunnicutt, David Brunnstrom, Devjyot Ghoshal and Poppy McPherson WASHINGTON/BANGKOK (Reuters) -The Trump administration has heard competing proposals that would significantly alter longstanding U.S. policy toward Myanmar, with the aim of diverting its vast supplies of rare earth minerals away from strategic rival China, four people with direct knowledge of the discussions said. Nothing has been decided and experts say there are huge logistical obstacles, but if the ideas are ever acted upon, Washington may need to strike a deal with the ethnic rebels controlling most of Myanmar's rich deposits of heavy rare earths. Among the proposals are one advocating talks with Myanmar's ruling junta to get a peace deal with the Kachin Independence Army rebels and another calling for the U.S. to instead work directly with the KIA without engaging the junta. Washington has avoided direct talks with the country's military leaders following their overthrow of the country's democratically elected government in 2021. The ideas have been proposed to administration officials by a U.S. business lobbyist, a former adviser to Aung San Suu Kyi, in indirect talks with the KIA and some outside experts, the sources said. The conversations have not previously been reported. Rare earths are a group of 17 metals used to make magnets that turn power into motion. So-called heavy rare earths are used to build fighter jets and other high-performance weaponry. The U.S. produces very small amounts of heavy rare earths and is reliant on imports. Securing supplies of the minerals is a major focus of the Trump administration in its strategic competition with China, which is responsible for nearly 90% of global processing capacity, according to the International Energy Agency. Engaging the junta would be a sharp departure for the United States, given U.S. sanctions on the military leaders and the violence committed against the Rohingya minority that Washington calls genocide and crimes against humanity. Last week, the Trump administration lifted sanctions designations on several junta allies, but U.S. officials said this does not indicate any broader shift in U.S. policy toward Myanmar. The ideas pitched to the U.S. administration also include easing U.S. President Donald Trump's threatened 40% tariffs on the country, pulling back sanctions against the junta and its allies, working with India to process some heavy rare earths exported from Myanmar, and appointing a special envoy to execute these tasks, people familiar with the matter said. Some of these suggestions were discussed in a July 17 meeting in Vice President JD Vance's offices that included Adam Castillo, a former head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Myanmar who runs a security firm in the country, a person close to Vance's office said. Among those present were advisers to Vance on Asian affairs and trade. Vance himself did not attend, the source said. Castillo told Reuters he suggested to U.S. officials that the United States could play a peace-broker role in Myanmar and urged Washington to take a page out of China's playbook by first brokering a bilateral self-governance deal between the Myanmar military and the KIA. Myanmar's ruling junta and the KIA did not respond to a request for comment. While Vance's office declined to comment on Castillo's visit to the White House, one person familiar with the situation said the Trump administration has been reviewing policy on Myanmar, also known as Burma, since Trump's January inauguration and had weighed direct discussions with the junta over trade and tariffs. The White House declined to comment. REVIEWING MYANMAR POLICY The White House discussions were described as exploratory and in early stages by people familiar with them, who added the talks may result in no shift in strategy at all by Trump, given the administration's wariness about intervening in foreign conflicts and in Myanmar's complex crisis. "The officials took this meeting as a courtesy to the American business community and to support President Trump's efforts to balance the U.S. $579 (million) trade deficit with Burma," a senior administration official said when asked about the July 17 meeting. Castillo, who describes Myanmar's rare earth deposits as China's "golden goose," said he told U.S. officials that key ethnic armed groups - particularly the KIA - were tired of being exploited by China and wanted to work with the United States. Mines in Myanmar's Kachin region are major producers of heavy rare earths that are exported to China for processing. He said he had repeatedly urged officials in Washington to pursue a deal with the KIA that includes cooperation with U.S. partners in the Quad grouping - specifically India - for resource processing and eventual heavy rare earths supply to the United States. The so-called Quad grouping brings together the United States with India, as well as Australia and Japan. India's Ministry of Mines did not respond to an email seeking comment. An Indian government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he was unaware of whether the Trump administration had communicated any such plan to India but stressed that such a move would take several years to materialize because it would require infrastructure to be built for processing rare earths. Another pitch to the White House was more in line with the Myanmar policy Trump inherited from former President Joe Biden. Sean Turnell, an Australian economist and former adviser to Suu Kyi, whose government the junta toppled in 2021, said his rare earths proposal was to encourage the Trump administration to continue supporting Myanmar's democratic forces. In a visit to Washington earlier this year, Turnell said he met with officials from the State Department, the White House National Security Council and Congress, and urged continued support for the country's opposition. "One of the pitches was that the U.S. could access rare earths via KIA etc," he said, adding that the group wants to diversify away from China. There have also been multiple discussions between U.S. officials and the Kachin rebel group on rare earths through interlocutors in recent months, said a person with knowledge of the talks, which have not previously been reported. OBSTACLES In the years since the coup, Myanmar has been ravaged by civil war and the junta and its allies have been pushed out of much of the country's borderlands, including the rare earths mining belt currently under control of the KIA. A rare earths industry source said that U.S. officials had reached out around three months ago, following the Kachin takeover of the Chipwe-Pangwa mining belt, to ask for an overview of the Kachin rare earths mining industry. The person added that any new, major rare earths supply chain, which would require moving the minerals out of remote and mountainous Kachin State into India and onward, may not be feasible. Swedish author Bertil Lintner, a leading expert on Kachin State, said the idea of the United States obtaining rare earths from Myanmar from under the nose of China seemed "totally crazy" given the unforgiving mountainous terrain and primitive logistics. "If they want to transport the rare earths from these mines, which are all on the Chinese border, to India, there's only one road," Lintner said. "And the Chinese would certainly step in and stop it." For its part, the junta appears eager to engage with Washington after years of isolation. When Trump threatened new tariffs on Myanmar's U.S.-bound exports this month as part of his global trade offensive, he did so in a signed letter addressed personally to the junta's chief, Min Aung Hlaing. Min Aung Hlaing responded by lavishing praise on Trump for his "strong leadership" while asking for lower rates and the lifting of sanctions. He said he was ready to send a negotiating team to Washington, if needed. Senior Trump administration officials said the decision to lift some sanctions was unrelated to the general's letter.
NDTV
4 days ago
- Politics
- NDTV
World Leaders Who Studied In India
World Leaders In India: Many world leaders have studied in India, showing how Indian education has played a role in their success and international ties. From Kabul to Kathmandu, these figures attended prestigious Indian institutions, showcasing India's contribution to leadership and learning on the world stage. Here are some of the renowned world leaders who had their education in India: 1. Aung San Suu Kyi- Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi, the national counsellor of Myanmar and the Nobel Peace Prize winner graduated from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University with a degree in Politics. She won the Nobel Prize in 1991. 2. Hamid Karzai (Afghanistan) Hamid Karzai was the president of Afghanistan from 2004-2014. He earned his Master's degree in International Relations and Political Science from Himachal Pradesh University in 1983. 3. Bingu wa Mutharika (Malawi) Bingu Wa Mutharika, the former president of Malawi, Southeastern Africa completed his graduation from Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi, and Masters in Economics from Delhi School of Economics. 4. Olusegun Obasanjo (Nigeria) Olusegun Mathew Okikiola Aremu Obasanjo was the president of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007. The president took his military training in India, first at College of Military Engineering at Kirkee, and then Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. He served as a military ruler from February 13, 1976 to October 1, 1979. 5. Baburam Bhattarai (Nepal) Baburam Bhattarai, the the Prime Minister of Nepal from August 2011 to March 2013 completed his Masters in Technology ( from the Delhi School of Planning and Architecture. He completed his PhD in Urban Planning from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi in 1986.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Old clip of Yangon flash mob protest misrepresented as new anti-junta demonstration
On the 63rd anniversary of the brutal suppression of a student movement in Myanmar, an old video of a flash mob protest in Yangon resurfaced in posts falsely claiming it was filmed in July 2025. The clip previously circulated in local news coverage from July 2021 and corresponds to AFP video of the demonstration. "General Strike Committee, students' unions, and marchers from other townships demonstrated to overthrow the military dictatorship today on July 7 in Pansodan, Yangon," reads part of the Burmese-language caption of a Facebook video shared on July 7, 2025. The video -- which was viewed more than 1.7 million times -- shows people hurriedly gathering for a street protest, chanting slogans and flashing the Hunger Games-inspired three finger salute popular among pro-democracy protesters. A banner held up by those at the front of the protest reads, "July 7 keep the spirit and fight" and "Oust the military dictatorship by all means". The video was also shared in similar Facebook, Instagram and TikTok posts. It circulated on the anniversary of the bloody 1962 blitz on students protesting against military rule in Yangon University. According to an article published by The Irrawaddy news outlet, eyewitnesses said hundreds were killed (archived link). Myanmar has been ruled almost continually by the military since 1962, just over a decade since independence from Britain. A 2021 coup ended a decade of transition from outright military rule, with generals justifying the power grab by alleging fraud in the previous November's elections that democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party won in a landslide (archived link). The coup sparked a civil war that has killed thousands, and left 3.5 million displaced and half the nation in poverty (archived link). While local media reported that several townships in Myanmar as well as Burmese communities in South Korea and Thailand commemorated the 1962 student movement, the video circulating online does not show a protest that occurred in Yangon in July 2025 (archived here, here and here). Yangon protest 2021 A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to the same footage published four years earlier by local news outlet Mizzima (archived link). The July 7, 2021 post reads: "'Keep the spirit of July 7 and fight' - Yangon anti-military dictatorship protest march." "Today also marks the 59th anniversary of the Seventh July Movement, during which the Yangon University Students' Union building was demolished". AFP reporters said the protest involved around 100 demonstrators who moved quickly through Yangon before scattering down side streets or jumping into waiting cars about two minutes later (archived link). Informants had tipped off police to previous flash mob protests and demonstrators had been arrested, read an AFP article from the time. An AFP video journalist who covered the protest confirmed the circulating video showed the 2021 demonstration. "This is reuploaded misinformation to farm engagement," they said. An AFP photo journalist also said the video showed the 2021 Yangon protest: "This was when flash protests were being organised amidst violent crackdowns targeting anti-coup protestors." "There were no protests in Yangon on July 7, 2025," they added. The falsely circulating video also corresponds to a video AFP published of the 2021 demonstration (archived link). "Around a hundred protesters march in central Yangon to mark the anniversary of the 1962 Yangon university protests during which more than a hundred people died and thousands were arrested in a violent crackdown by the military regime," reads part of the video's description. AFP has debunked other false claims about Myanmar's military coup and the subsequent unrest.
AFP
5 days ago
- Politics
- AFP
Old clip of Yangon flash mob protest misrepresented as new anti-junta demonstration
"General Strike Committee, students' unions, and marchers from other townships demonstrated to overthrow the military dictatorship today on July 7 in Pansodan, Yangon," reads part of the Burmese-language caption of a Facebook video shared on July 7, 2025. The video -- which was viewed more than 1.7 million times -- shows people hurriedly gathering for a street protest, chanting slogans and flashing the Hunger Games-inspired three finger salute popular among pro-democracy protesters. A banner held up by those at the front of the protest reads, "July 7 keep the spirit and fight" and "Oust the military dictatorship by all means". Image Screenshot of the false Facebook post captured on July 23, 2025, with a red X added by AFP The video was also shared in similar Facebook, Instagram and TikTok posts. It circulated on the anniversary of the bloody 1962 blitz on students protesting against military rule in Yangon University. According to an article published by The Irrawaddy news outlet, eyewitnesses said hundreds were killed (archived link). Myanmar has been ruled almost continually by the military since 1962, just over a decade since independence from Britain. A 2021 coup ended a decade of transition from outright military rule, with generals justifying the power grab by alleging fraud in the previous November's elections that democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party won in a landslide (archived link). The coup sparked a civil war that has killed thousands, and left 3.5 million displaced and half the nation in poverty (archived link). While local media reported that several townships in Myanmar as well as Burmese communities in South Korea and Thailand commemorated the 1962 student movement, the video circulating online does not show a protest that occurred in Yangon in July 2025 (archived here, here and here). Yangon protest 2021 A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to the same footage published four years earlier by local news outlet Mizzima (archived link). The July 7, 2021 post reads: Image Screenshot comparison of falsely shared clip (left) and the Mizzima video posted on July 7, 2021 (right) AFP reporters said the protest involved around 100 demonstrators who moved quickly through Yangon before scattering down side streets or jumping into waiting cars about two minutes later (archived link). Informants had tipped off police to previous flash mob protests and demonstrators had been arrested, read an AFP article from the time. An who covered the protest confirmed the circulating video showed the 2021 demonstration. "This is reuploaded misinformation to farm engagement," they said. An AFP photo journalist also said the video showed the 2021 Yangon protest: "This was when flash protests were being organised amidst violent crackdowns targeting anti-coup protestors." "There were no protests in Yangon on July 7, 2025," they added. The falsely circulating video also corresponds to a video AFP published of the 2021 demonstration (archived link). "Around a hundred protesters march in central Yangon to mark the anniversary of the 1962 Yangon university protests during which more than a hundred people died and thousands were arrested in a violent crackdown by the military regime," reads part of the video's description. AFP has debunked other false claims about Myanmar's military coup and the subsequent unrest.
