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Time of India
2 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Rare earth rattles: As US woos China, India watches and weighs its chances
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel As the 90-day deadline for US-China trade negotiations nears, global anxieties over rare earth supply chains are intensifying. While official statements from Washington suggest a willingness to ease tech export restrictions in return for freer Chinese rare earth shipments, The world remains sceptical about any swift breakthroughs — especially as domestic tensions and international brinkmanship take centre stage.'The London meetings may not clinch it, but you have to see that there was a 90-day pause on April 2nd. That deadline is not very far off and no big deals have been clinched by Mr Trump except with Britain,' says Swaminathan Aiyar, Consulting Editor at ET Now. 'So, right now they [the US] are getting a little uneasy and willing to give way. Because of that, in the USA, there is this new thing called 'TACO' — Trump Always Chickens Out.'In April, China, the world's dominant exporter of rare earth magnets, imposed export restrictions on seven rare earth elements and finished magnets, mandating export licences."We have begun, but it will take a long time and frankly we do not have very good domestic prospects. It will be more like trying to diversify our sources from other places. But the fact is that right now our auto industries and smartphone industries are both complaining that the supply chain is becoming very strained," said Aiyar."India has made it very clear that Sino-Indian relations must not be mixed up with Sino-US relations. So, I mean that is one good thing. China is keeping a very large number of countries on a tight leash to prove how strong position it is in and it knows very well that while all the other countries want to get other sources of supply, it is going to take some time and therefore China is going to have the upper hand in this deal not just in what happens in the next month or so but even in the next year, in the next two years," said Aiyar."So, this is going to be an interesting Chinese lever that it may use again and again," added Aiyar.A disruption in rare earth magnet supplies lasting beyond a month can impact production of passenger vehicles, including electric models, weighing on the domestic automobile industry 's growth momentum, a Crisil ratings report on Tuesday said."The supply squeeze comes just as the auto sector is preparing for aggressive EV rollouts. Over a dozen new electric models are planned for launch, most built on PMSM platforms," Crisil Ratings Senior Director Anuj Sethi said. While most automakers currently have 4-6 weeks of inventory, prolonged delays could start affecting vehicle production, with EV models facing deferrals or rescheduling from July 2025, he added. A broader impact on two-wheelers and ICE PVs may follow if the supply bottlenecks persist for an extended period, Sethi Union minister Piyush Goyal said India is actively working to develop alternative sources and position itself as a reliable partner for global businesses looking to reduce dependence on Chinese further acknowledged that China's restrictions on rare earth exports will create short-term challenges, especially for India's automotive and white goods sectors. However, he expressed confidence that joint efforts by the government, industry, and innovators can turn these challenges into long-term the same time, the government is ramping up support for Indian Rare Earths Limited, providing the necessary resources to increase domestic production. At the recently held India-Central Asia Dialogue in New Delhi, India and five Central Asian nations expressed mutual interest in jointly exploring rare earths and other critical minerals. In a joint statement, they called for an early meeting of the India-Central Asia Rare Earth Forum, signalling growing geopolitical urgency to diversify away from China's the rare earth puzzle deepens and trade talks meander, India may not be at the table right now — but it's certainly watching the game, preparing its own play.
Express Tribune
5 days ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Indo-US posturing on China via Bangladesh?
The writer heads the independent Centre for Research and Security Studies, Islamabad. He is currently a visiting Research Fellow at Fudan University, Shanghai Listen to article A Zee News report on May 29 suggests the intentions of Indian and US security establishments in the coming months. It also points to the possible deterioration of Sino-Indian relations and a spike in regional tensions due to the emergence of a so-called "Bangladesh-Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran -China strategic axis". India deployed Rafale fighter jets and the Russian-made S-400 air defence system at the Siliguri Corridor, a strategically important stretch, due to threats from Dhaka, according to Zee News. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's remarks at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on May 30 emphasised "the real and imminent threat China poses". He said Beijing is "credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific" and that the US is reorienting toward deterring aggression by communist China. Both developments are centred around China. Let's examine the US posturing towards China. The US establishment focuses on the "ascendent China challenge", projecting military build-up and war-games as aggressive Chinese posturing. However, history contradicts this. Has China ever invaded another country or used deadly ammunition on foreign territories? Has it occupied an alien country like the US did in Afghanistan, Iraq or Libya? Has Beijing ever quietly endorsed or condoned a genocide, like Israel's repression against Palestinians? Beijing got back Hong Kong after a century of negotiations with the British and is following the same approach for Taiwan, which it considers part of One China. For President Xi Jinping, reuniting Taiwan with the mainland is a mission his generation is committed to achieving. Raising alarm over war drills, a legitimate right of sovereign nations, contradicts US-NATO war games, including in the South China Sea. The latest example was the largest joint military exercises between the US and the Philippines in April, involving 17,000 troops to simulate war with China over Taiwan and the South China Sea. Why would China's marine patrols and exercises be questioned without supporting evidence? After challenging Pakistan and losing multiple aircraft on May 7, New Delhi is now deflecting criticism by bullying Bangladesh in indirect messaging to China. A Zee News report as well as a backgrounder by The New Indian Express reflect the Indian establishment's current focus on Beijing and Dhaka. It noted that the interim government in Dhaka is reportedly leaning toward China and Pakistan, which could reshape India's strategic balance in the east. The report also detailed the reinforcement of the 22km Siliguri Corridor, India's only land link to its northeastern states, which sits at the crossroads of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and China. The Siliguri Corridor in West Bengal connects India's mainland to its northeastern states, known as the Seven Sisters. Any disruption in this narrow strip between Nepal and Bangladesh would sever India's northeastern states from the rest of India. The deployment of the S-400 air defence system and a Rafale squadron at Hashimara Airbase is more than just tactical positioning; it's a strategic warning. India's military posturing at the Siliguri Corridor is a show of strength and a declaration that any misadventure from the north (China) or east (Bangladesh) will be met with full force," highlights The New Indian Express report. India's overreaction began after Bangladesh's interim leader Dr Muhammad Yunus referred to India's northeast as landlocked during his China visit in March. New Delhi promptly restricted certain Bangladeshi exports through its entry points, exempting Nepal and Bhutan though, signaling that undermining India's strategic autonomy in the region has economic and political consequences. The Indian sensitivity primarily stems from Sheikh Hasina's rise to power in August 2024, which diminished India's clout gained over the past two decades. The growing Dhaka-Beijing proximity causes anxiety in New Delhi, especially after the Yunus administration moved the $1 billion Teesta River project to China and decided to revive the 1931 Lalmonirhat airbase .This airbase is near the Siliguri Corridor, which China has also promised to rehabilitate. The Hegseth speech and Indian defence reinforcement at the Siliguri Corridor are both directed at China. Even though the US and India may disagree over tariffs, China will likely force both into a convenient embrace after the recent strategic shift in the region. Both countries may use the feared China-Bangladesh-Sri Lanka-Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran axis as a justification for attacking China and undermining its interests. However, this may hurt the combined interests of India and the US more than China's, which has built a vast community across Africa and Asia through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) rather than intimidation and military interventions. What we need in these times of turbulence across the globe, and the disruption that an aggressive Donald Trump has caused, is intensified mutually beneficial cooperation instead of artificially drummed-up threats to unjustifiably demonise target countries.
India Today
5 days ago
- Politics
- India Today
Why China engages in diplomacy of silence on Pakistan
Beijing recently declined to comment on the performance of Chinese missiles used by Pakistan in the recent conflict with India. This may seem like a routine diplomatic brush-off, but the silence speaks to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), China is the world's fourth-largest arms exporter, and publicly acknowledging the substandard performance of Chinese weapon systems might have affected China's growing defence export ambitions, particularly in western Africa, Latin America and Southeast widely known, any public acknowledgement of arms supplies to Pakistan could have also drawn criticism from India and international watchdogs, for "indirectly" fuelling conflict in South Asia by strengthening Islamabad. Notably, Pakistan is among China's oldest and most consistent arms clients, with strategic cooperation between the two deepening after the Sino-Indian war of 1962. According to SIPRI data, over 81% of Pakistan's arms imports between 2020 and 2024 came from the recent military conflict between India and Pakistan, the latter deployed a slew of Chinese weapons, such as the HQ-9 and HQ-16 air defence systems, PL-15E long-range air-to-air missiles, J-10CE and JF-17 fighter jets, among now India is calling out this military nexus on global platforms. During India's diplomatic outreach to key international partners, which included UN Security Council members, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, part of a delegation to the Americas, took this up in Bogota, is a polite word. Much of it is not for defence but for attack," said Tharoor, referring to Chinese arms supplied to has always been an impudent, assertive neighbour — one which refuses to acknowledge responsibility or comment on arms supplies to Pakistan, even as it continues open and unrepentant defence dealings with diplomacy of silence on the issue is a bid to portray its multiple roles: that of a military supplier, a so-called neutral diplomatic voice on paper, and a dominant regional player in the Asia-Pacific being described as Islamabad's "all-weather friend", Beijing has historically avoided overtly backing Pakistan during escalations with India. In fact, it has only issued direct warnings once — in the 1965 India-Pakistan War, (on September 16, 1965), when it threatened India to dismantle all military installations on or over the China-Sikkim boundary within three days or face "serious consequences", The Indian Express reported, quoting documents accessed from the United States State Department archives and declassified Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, China took a more cautious line, calling the "happenings in Pakistan" an internal matter that should be resolved by the Pakistani people, without foreign the 1999 Kargil War, China urged restraint from both India and Pakistan, and avoided blaming either party — a stance well-documented by many defence latest example of this diplomacy of silence came during the monthly defence ministry media briefing that was held in the last week of May 2025, when Chinese defence ministry spokesperson Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang played down the reports of India recovering an unexploded PL-15E, a radar-guided beyond visual range missile, stated to be the most advanced rocket of its kind produced by merely commented that the missiles in question were "export equipment" that had been "displayed at exhibitions globally". He added, "India and Pakistan are neighbours that cannot be moved away", and urged both sides to exercise "calm and restraint".Notably, he reiterated China's willingness to play a "constructive role" in preserving regional peace — a language mirroring Beijing's official stance during previous Indo-Pakistani tensions in 1971 and Beijing is neither confirming nor denying such claims about its defence systems during the latest India-Pakistan are many layers to this expert Major General Yash Mor (Retired) says, "China has long described its relationship with Pakistan as 'higher than mountains, deeper than seas, and sweeter than honey'. Meanwhile, deep-seated distrust issues also persist between India and China, particularly in the aftermath of the Doklam standoff of 2017 and the Galwan clashes of 2020-2021. And China's cartographic assertions, such as its claims over parts of Arunachal Pradesh, underscore ongoing tensions. But there were de-escalations at the LAC at the same time."advertisement"One must note that China does not actively position itself against India on matters like cross-border terrorism or India-Pakistan relations. However, Beijing was displeased with India's abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. India's opposition to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passing through POK has also caused some friction — though India's opposition was limited to formal protests only," Major General Yash Mor (Retired) tells India Today the idea behind the silence, as many experts agree, may be its commercial interests."China prefers to operate quietly, focusing on building alliances rather than making grandiose statements. The Chinese leadership maintains a measured and restrained approach, rarely issuing public remarks. Its state-controlled media offer little insight, and when statements do emerge, they typically pertain to dealings with the US or QUAD-related matters. As part of its broader strategic relationships, China supplies weapons to several countries, including Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. However, its primary objective remains trade, not arming nations to escalate conflict, as the US and Russia did during the Cold War," Major General Yash Mor (Retired) strategic silence has helped Beijing maintain diplomatic channels with India despite tensions, and has allowed it to avoid direct entanglement in South Asia's most volatile border dispute between two nuclear the same time, for the nations beyond its neighbourhood, China has repeatedly portrayed its image of a peace-loving and responsible diplomat Zhang Heqing, citing foreign minister Wang Yi, echoed the same."According to Wang Yi, on the issue of peace and security, China is the major country with the best record in the world. Since the founding of New China, it has never initiated a war or participated in a war of aggression. It has always been a firm defender of world peace," Heqing wrote on X, in long-maintained measured stance reinforces its strategy of ambiguity and distance — designed more to preserve influence than to take with India emerging as a key player in the Indo-Pacific region and a member of the Quad alliance, China is cautious not to provoke further alignment between New Delhi and the is armed by China, but not always politically shielded by it during India-Pakistan military escalations. The partnership seemingly operates in a grey area — legal, yet behind the it may not have the image of a peacemaker in New Delhi and the West, it's definitely a pacemaker for a rogue state like Pakistan, and keeps the pot hot, if not boiling, in South its diplomacy of silence, it plays the main power broker in South InTrending Reel
New Indian Express
17-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Why India rejects mediation on Kashmir
This position has been reinforced by a long history of disillusionment with international mediation efforts, particularly those involving the United States. In the early years after independence, India watched warily as the United Nations' involvement appeared to internationalise a matter it regarded as a bilateral concern. In the 1960s, especially after the Sino-Indian war, India was pressured into talks with Pakistan under US and British mediation. The role of US Ambassador J K Galbraith, who even floated proposals to divide the Kashmir Valley, deeply upset Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, leading to a complete breakdown in talks. Later, during the 1971 war, the US, under President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, openly sided with Pakistan, even deploying the Seventh Fleet to the Bay of Bengal in an act of intimidation toward India. This alignment with Pakistan in a time of regional upheaval—and when India was supporting the liberation of Bangladesh—further entrenched Indian skepticism toward American neutrality. By the 1990s, attempts to revive international interest in the Kashmir issue only served to reinforce India's resolve. When U S Assistant Secretary of State Robin Raphel questioned the legality of Kashmir's accession to India in 1993, India responded with uncharacteristic firmness. According to then Joint Secretary (Americas), now Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, India 'read the riot act' to the U S administration and issued a strongly worded protest. This became a defining moment in India's foreign policy, drawing a clear red line around Kashmir: no outside interference would be tolerated. That line has held firm, even during the most turbulent episodes in India-Pakistan relations. In the Kargil War of 1999, when Pakistani forces crossed the LoC into Indian-held territory, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sought U S intervention. But this time, the United States, under President Bill Clinton, declined to mediate and instead asked Pakistan to withdraw unconditionally. While India welcomed the support, it continued to avoid crediting any resolution to external actors. Similarly, after the 2001 Parliament attack and the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, the United States helped de-escalate tensions, primarily to prevent war between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. But even in these cases, India rejected any suggestion of mediation. The US role was tolerated—if not welcomed—only because it occurred quietly, behind the scenes, and did not impose a formal framework for dialogue. In more recent years, particularly under the Narendra Modi government, India's position has become more pronounced. The official line is that there is no room for negotiation over the status of Jammu and Kashmir. Any talks with Pakistan, if they are to take place at all, will be exclusively on the issue of terrorism and the return of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK). This marks a significant shift as the focus for New Delhi now firmly is on cross-border terrorism and national security. The Trump administration tested these boundaries when the President, in his characteristic style, offered to mediate on Kashmir. Despite his claims that India had requested such involvement—a claim India flatly denied—New Delhi responded firmly. Indian officials, including Jaishankar, reiterated that there is no room for third-party involvement.
Time of India
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Soil from 1962 Sino-India war site reaches J'khand
Ranchi/Hazaribag: "Kalash" procession, a march with the sacred vessel containing soil from Rezang-La , where Indian soldiers sacrificed their lives in the 1962 Sino-Indian war, arrived in Jharkhand on Friday evening. The vessel will traverse 13 districts of the state before proceeding to Chhattisgarh. Initiated by Akhil Bhartiya Yadav Mahasabha since April 13, the procession will cover 19 states, culminating at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on November 18. The effort aims to commemorate Indian soldiers' valour while advocating for the establishment of an Ahir (Yadav) regiment in the Army. Rezang-La, an Indian Army post in Ladakh, witnessed the Charlie company of the Kumaon Battalion, comprising Yadav community members, engaging in an intense battle with two Chinese regiments on the night of November 18 and 19, ultimately sacrificing their lives. Anita Yadav, state RJD vice president and tour coordinator for the "Kalash" procession in Jharkhand, said, "The 'Kalash' has entered Jharkhand from West Bengal. It would be kept at the IMA building in Ranchi on Saturday for people to pay homage to the martyrs. A procession would also be taken out later on." She mentioned that the demand for the Ahir regiment dates back nearly 100 years, with the British authorities promising its formation after World War I. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Trade Bitcoin & Ethereum – No Wallet Needed! IC Markets Start Now Undo She noted that elected officials have frequently raised this matter in Parliament. Yadav added that the vessel would continue its journey through various districts before entering Chhattisgarh via Gumla. From Ranchi, the vessel will be taken to Hazaribag on Saturday, and the city is preparing for an elaborate reception. It would first be taken to Bharat Mata Chowk at 7 pm on Saturday, said Shambhu Yadav, president of Shri Krishna Balram Seva Sangathan, Hazaribag. "A procession will transport the vessel to the Hari Hanuman temple courtyard via Vivekananda School and Bada Bazar mohalla," he said. Thereafter, the "Kalash" will be taken around the city from 9 am on Sunday.
