“The meeting with Modi produced agreements to deepen cooperation in trade, investment, connectivity, border management, and, most consequentially, critical minerals and rare earth elements. Myanmar is now the world’s third-largest producer of rare earth elements, with an estimated output of around 31,000 metric tons in 2024. This includes dysprosium and terbium, which are essential materials for electric vehicle motors, wind turbines, and advanced defense systems. Currently, the vast majority of that output flows to China. A diversified supply corridor from Myanmar would greatly benefit India’s clean energy and semiconductor ambitions and efforts to reduce Chinese dominance over critical mineral processing chains.”
“Against this backdrop, both sides emphasized the urgency of completing the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project and the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway. These projects are crucial for connecting India’s northeast to Southeast Asia, and are central to India’s Act East policy. But Chinese investment strategically fulfils only Beijing’s interests by coming with political conditions and a growing physical presence, and India’s Kaladan Corridor and the Trilateral Highway are oriented towards regional integration of Myanmar. While Vikram Misri acknowledged that the security situation was the main obstacle to both projects, Min Aung Hlaing assured that Myanmar’s territory would not be used against Indian interests.”
“Yet, even as Min Aung Hlaing met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House, Myanmar’s foreign minister, Tin Maung Swe, swiftly traveled to Beijing for talks with his counterpart, Wang Yi, quietly reassuring a patron who had not been consulted before the itinerary was set. And within days of the India visit’s conclusion, a formal Chinese state invitation was extended to Min Aung Hlaing, who arrived in Beijing on 15 June, just twelve days after leaving New Delhi.”
https://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/myanmar-reemerges-as-frontline-in-india-china-rivalry/