Critical Minerals

Critical Minerals: The New Oil of the 21st Century?

Critical minerals are not literally the new oil, but they may play a comparable role in defining the balance of power. The race has already begun, and India’s preparedness will determine whether it merely secures access to the resources of the new century or helps shape the industrial order that emerges from them.

Trade Pivot Weakens Pakistan’s Grip on Afghanistan, as Others Move in

Afghanistan has sought to limit or reduce its structural vulnerability by moving trade through Iran’s Chabahar Port and Central Asian corridors. Kabul is realigning Afghanistan’s external economic geography by looking towards Iran, Central Asia, China and India.

India's Sugar Economy and Ethanol Politics: The Demand-Supply Imbalance Threatens to Mar Festival Season

The current rise in Indian sugar prices is the result of several factors rather than ethanol alone. Lower-than-expected production—from an initial estimate of 343 LMT to about 306 LMT—is central to the supply concern. Weather damage, disease, festival demand, global prices and market speculation have added to the pressure.

Can Iran's Chabahar Help Turkiye and India do Business?

Chabahar will not transform Türkiye–India relations. It can, however, show whether two countries with serious political disagreements are capable of making one difficult commercial route work.

More on Economy, Trade and Development

India denies China's claims of activity in violation of LAC

The Indian government has denied China's claims that India is carrying out any activity in violation of the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh and Sikkim

Chinese Embassy says US official’s speech to defame Sino-Pak ties

The Chinese Embassy in Islamabad termed the speech of US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice Wells totally baseless and attempt to defame Sino-Pak relations and the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)

Maldivian MP calls for loans from China for economic resurgence

MP for Maradhoo Ibrahim Shareef has called on the government to obtain loans from China to repair the damage caused to the economy of the country and the financials of the state due to COVID-19

Concerned nations must ally to contain China

Action against China can be on the economic front and/or military front. Action on the economic front primarily means to stop all imports from China to the extent possible, writes Vinod Aggarwal for South Asia Monitor

Nepal Army procures essential medical equipment from China

A wide-body aircraft of Nepal Airlines carrying 18.84 tons of medical equipment arrived in the capital from Guangzhou of China, on Tuesday morning

Chinese company donates PPEs, other equipment to Maldives

China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC), on Thursday, donated PPEs and other protective equipment to several Maldivian institutions involved in efforts to curb the spread of the new coronavirus in Maldives

Indian forces accuse Chinese troops of blocking patrols

Indian armed forces have accused the Chinese People's Liberation Army of blocking patrols and unnecessarily erecting tents and deploying forces at Sikkim and Ladakh inside Indian territory on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between the two countries

Xi offers Hasina Chinese experts to fight COVID-19

Chinese President Xi Jinping has offered Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina a team of coronavirus experts as COVID-19 cases and death toll from the disease continue to surge in Bangladesh

Chinese power scams under CPEC cause loss of $630mn to Pak

In an effort to explore the causes for the steep cost of electricity in Pakistan, the Imran Khan government has unearthed a scam of over $630 million involving power projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)

Pompeo hailed for asking China to release Tibetan holy monk

Tibet's self-declared government-in-exile President Lobsang Sangay on Tuesday thanked US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for making a strong call to China for the release of the second-highest holy monk, the Panchen Lama

Trump threatens to pull top funder US out of WHO over China

Accusing the World Health Organisation of “alarming lack of independence from” China, US President Donald Trump has threatened to pull out of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and end its financing if it did not institute reforms within a month and end its subservience

274 students brought back from China

As many as 274 Pakistani students stranded in the Chinese city of Wuhan arrived at Islamabad International Airport (IIA) on a special flight of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Monday

PLA muscle-flexing part of exercise to shape the environment in China’s favour

A major aim of China’s aggressive actions is to derail demands at the United Nations for independent inquiry into the origins of COVID-19. This has led to muscle-flexing all over,  writes Lt Gen P. C. Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor

'Wuhan Diary' releases in India in ebook format

The much-talked-about 'Wuhan Diary: Dispatches from a Quarantined City' by well-known Chinese literary writer Fang Fang, has released in India in the ebook format

China rejects India’s objection to dam in Gilgit-Baltistan

China on Friday rejected India’s objection to the construction of Diamer-Bhasha dam in the Gilgit-Baltistan region - whose sovereignty is contested by India - saying that the economic cooperation between China and Pakistan was aimed at promoting development and improving the well-being of the local population