Continuing to engage with China on supply of rare-earth elements: MEA

India on Thursday said it is in talks with China on the supply of rare earth elements, and is respectful of its international obligations on the various frameworks and arrangements regarding end-user certifications.

 

Recently, China sought guarantees from India that the rare earth elements supplied by it will not be re-exported to the US, and will be used to meet only local needs.

 

Beijing is seeking export control commitments similar to those under the Wassenaar Arrangement, which governs the export of dual-use technologies and goods among its member countries.

 

While India is a signatory to the Wassenaar Arrangement, China isn’t, but Beijing wants India to follow similar end-user certification. Sources pointed out that India’s private companies have given such undertakings to China.

 

 

At the weekly media briefing of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), its spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India is respectful of its international obligations on the various frameworks and arrangements related to end-user certification, and provides these whenever required under these arrangements and frameworks.

 

Jaiswal said when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Tianjin on August 31, on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, it was mentioned that both leaders “underlined the need to proceed from a political and strategic direction to expand bilateral trade and investment ties to reduce trade deficit.”

 

“We have had conversations with the Chinese side on rare earths, etc., and it is something that is in the works,” the MEA spokesperson said.  

 

India-Afghanistan relations

 

The MEA said that India’s technical mission in Kabul has been operational since June 2022, and that its “transition to an embassy will happen in the next few days”.

 

On the question of New Delhi officially recognising the Taliban government, officials pointed to the visit of Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to India over from October 9 to 15, where he met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, representatives of the Federation of Indian Chambers and Commerce and Industry (Ficci), and there were discussions on increasing trade with India also committing to provide humanitarian assistance, development cooperation, and grant more visas to Afghan nationals. 

 

On the border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the MEA said that New Delhi is closely monitoring the situation. 

 

“Three things are clear… one, that Pakistan hosts terrorist organisations and sponsors terrorist activities. Second, it is an old practice of Pakistan to blame its neighbours for its own internal failures, and thirdly, Pakistan is infuriated with Afghanistan exercising sovereignty over its own territories,” Jaiswal said.

 

India remains fully committed to the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence of Afghanistan, the MEA spokesperson said.

 

UK sanctions on Nayara Energy Limited

 

On Wednesday, the UK government announced 90 new sanctions targeting Russia’s oil giants and Indian petroleum company Nayara Energy Limited, which it said had imported billions of dollars’ worth of Russian crude in 2024.

 

To a question on its response to the UK sanctions on Nayara, the MEA said on Thursday that it has noted the latest sanctions announced by the UK.

 

“India does not subscribe to any unilateral sanctions. The government of India considers the provision of energy security a responsibility of paramount importance to meet the basic needs of its citizens,” the MEA spokesperson said, adding that Indian companies source energy supplies from around the world while taking overall market conditions into account.

 

“We would stress that there should be no double standards, especially when it comes to energy trade,” MEA spokesperson Jaiswal said.