India steps up rare earth outreach in Myanmar with mining forum in Mandalay

India hosted a mining and minerals forum in Mandalay last week, bringing representatives of Indian mining companies together with Myanmar officials and business leaders, and as it seeks to secure access to valuable rare earth resources. The Indian Consulate in Mandalay said in a statement released July 23 that Indian Ambassador to Myanmar Abhay Thakur led a delegation of six mining companies, including the state-owned Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL), to the India-Myanmar Mining & Minerals Forum held on July 22 and 23. According to the consulate, the companies met with mining entrepreneurs from Yangon and Mandalay, along with merchants from several regions and states, to discuss expanding cooperation in rare earth and mineral development. The forum was also attended by Theingi Aung, Mandalay Region’s junta-appointed minister for natural resources and environmental conservation. The statement said stronger connections among policymakers, business leaders, and other stakeholders are essential to advancing cooperation in the mining sector. The meeting comes as India appears to be increasing efforts to secure supplies of rare earth minerals from Myanmar, one of the world’s leading producers of the strategically important resources. A businessman with close ties to the Mandalay Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who spoke to Myanmar Now on condition of anonymity, said the forum’s primary purpose was to establish relationships that could eventually provide Indian companies with access to Myanmar’s rare earth sector. “Their main target is to establish a connection for rare earths,” the businessman said. “However, the Mandalay Region doesn’t have those resources. In reality, those deposits are in Kachin and northern Shan states. Since they couldn’t invite all the companies from those areas, making real connections will be difficult. But they want to make that connection.” He said the event was intended to lay the groundwork for future cooperation but was unlikely to produce immediate business opportunities because China’s mining interests already dominate many rare earth deposits in Kachin and Shan states near the Chinese border. “It will probably only yield information for them,” he said. “Actual, practical connectivity is virtually non-existent.” A truck delivers ammonium sulphate, used to extract rare earth elements, to a mine in Kachin State (Source: Global Witness) It remains unclear how Myanmar’s military regime would respond to applications from Indian companies seeking exploration or mining permits in areas under junta control. India’s interest in Myanmar’s rare earth sector has become increasingly visible in recent months. During junta leader Min Aung Hlaing’s visit to India in late May and early June, official statements said he met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed cooperation on rare earths and other projects. Late last year, reports also emerged that India had been negotiating with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), an ethnic armed group that controls key rare earth mining areas in Kachin State near the China-Myanmar border, to secure access to rare earth supplies. The KIA seized Kachin Special Region 1 in late 2024 after launching an offensive against forces loyal to pro-junta militia leader Zahkung Ting Ying. The armed group now administers the Chipwe, Pangwa and Tsawlaw areas, where many of Myanmar’s rare earth deposits are located. The KIA has since approved new rare earth mining blocks for extraction in those areas. Expanding rare earth mining activity has also been reported in areas of eastern Shan State under the control of the United Wa State Army, another powerful ethnic armed group. Rare earth elements are critical components used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, smartphones, computers, and other electronic technologies, making them increasingly important to governments and manufacturers seeking secure supply chains. Environmental groups have long warned that rare earth mining in Myanmar carries significant ecological risks. The extraction process involves drilling into mountains and injecting nitric acid and other chemical solutions to leach minerals from underground deposits before refining them in large pits. Monitors say wastewater from the operations frequently enters streams and rivers during the rainy season, contaminating water sources, degrading soil and causing long-term environmental damage.

India steps up rare earth outreach in Myanmar with mining forum in Mandalay

The move comes as China maintains its position as the main foreign investor in Myanmar’s critical minerals sector

Subscribe for full access

Explainer: Who are the companies and cronies backing Myanmar junta leader’s Thailand visit?

From palace stages to exile: A Myanmar dancer who chose conscience over ceremony

Her parents gone, a Myanmar student prays for the return of a father lost in conflict

Rakhine State floods put AA administration to its biggest test yet

Subscribe for full access

Related Articles

Myanmar junta airstrike kills eight family members in southern Rakhine State

Regime arrests 19 CSO members on suspicion of supporting education in resistance areas

Fighting erupts between junta and KIA troops near Mongmit in northern Shan

Myanmar regime continues airstrikes amid flooding in Sagaing