India and Myanmar are intensifying their collaboration in the rare earths sector following visits by Indian delegations to the Southeast Asian nation, as New Delhi looks for alternative sources of a strategic resource largely dominated by China.
In a speech on Wednesday at the inauguration of a mining forum in Mandalay, India’s Ambassador to Myanmar, Abhay Thakur, highlighted the expanding bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the field of rare earths.
Thakur said that collaboration in the mining industry has gathered considerable pace over the past two years.
He noted that this involved two Indian delegations focused on rare earths and critical minerals, which visited Myanmar in December 2024 and again in February 2026.
According to Thakur, the issue also drew high-level attention during an official visit to India by junta leader-turned-president Min Aung Hlaing in May-June.
Thakur stated that India’s demand for critical minerals, combined with the advantages Myanmar can gain from sustainable mining, offers strong, mutually beneficial opportunities in both the short and long term.
According to Reuters, nearly half of the global supply of heavy rare earth elements is mined in Myanmar’s Kachin state and subsequently transported to China, where they are processed into magnets used in electric vehicles and wind turbines.
According to media reports India requested rare earth samples through the rebel Kachin Independence Army (KIA), which controls Myanmar’s primary mining centers near the Chinese border.
At the Mandalay mining forum, Thakur said the Indian firms in attendance include IREL, NTPC Mining, Himadri Specialty, Oceanic Sands, PrNd Metal & Magnets, and Jai Puri Holdings.
Thakur also said that "Midwest from India" has also closely engaged with Myanmar in recent months and years, without specifying the nature of the involvement.
The state-owned mining company IREL and the private firm Midwest Advanced Materials were among the parties engaged in talks to examine the collection and transport of samples from mines controlled by the KIA.
