NEW DELHI — With rare earth minerals in high demand worldwide, India is seeking new ways to source these materials, turning its attention to rebel-controlled areas of northeastern Myanmar after China tightened its export rules on processed rare earths.
This shift, driven by urgent need and emerging opportunity, unfolds against a backdrop of environmental damage from Chinese mining operations in Myanmar. Rivers polluted by these activities have caused public anger in neighbouring countries and raised alarms about sustainable resource sourcing.
Materials like dysprosium and terbium are essential for making electric vehicles, wind turbines, and high-tech defence equipment. China, with almost 90 percent of global rare earth refining capacity, often relies on raw supplies from Myanmar’s Kachin and Shan states.
Recent Chinese export limits to India, as US-China tensions rise, have led New Delhi to look for other sources. These measures, seen as part of China’s wider plan to use its mineral power, have left India searching for fresh ways to supply its clean energy and defence industries.
India has started talks with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), a local rebel force that gained control of vital mining centres, including Chipwi and Pangwa, in October 2024. These towns sit atop some of the world’s richest heavy rare earth deposits, together producing nearly half of the global supply.
China Cut Off by Rebels
The KIA takeover has cut off much of China’s access, leading Beijing to put pressure on the rebels with border closures and threats to stop buying minerals unless the KIA halts its fighting against Myanmar’s military government, China’s close partner.
This new power balance gives India a chance to negotiate directly with the KIA, although practical and political problems remain.
While India has long held an interest in Myanmar’s rare earth output, KIA’s full control has raised the stakes. An Indian company has recently collected mineral samples from Kachin, showing New Delhi’s intent to test new supply chains.
Even so, India faces major difficulties: the border region with Kachin has poor roads, and the Indian states of Nagaland and Manipur are remote and thinly linked to trading routes.
Unlike China, which enjoys well-built roads through Yunnan, India cannot fully refine these minerals into high-grade magnets. This gap means that India may still need to rely on exports of unprocessed materials to China, keeping a link it’s hoped to break.
Damage from Chinese mining in Myanmar only adds to the challenges. Since the army coup in 2021, rare earth mining has expanded sharply in Kachin and Shan, with over 370 mining sites and more than 2,500 leaching pits by late 2024.
Many Chinese firms, often with the blessing of Myanmar’s junta, use harsh chemical techniques like ammonium nitrate leaching, polluting soil and water, and cutting down forests.
In Kachin, poisoned groundwater and barren land have forced out families and destroyed farming, with many locals suffering from skin and kidney issues, and breathing problems.
Pollution from Myanmar Mines
The river pollution does not stop at Myanmar’s borders. Waterways like the Kok, Sai, and Ruak Rivers, which flow into the Mekong River via Thailand, now run cloudy from arsenic and other metals linked to mining in Shan state.
In Chiang Rai, fish stocks have plummeted, and swimmers have suffered lasting rashes after river use; people have been told to avoid the water. Groups, including Pianporn Deetes from International Rivers, call these events “organized environmental crime,” and satellite images show ongoing mining in rebel zones run by the United Wa State Army (UWSA), an armed group backed by China. On 5 June 2025, about 1,500 demonstrators in Chiang Rai called for illegal mines to close, handing petitions to Thai, Chinese, and Myanmar authorities.
China’s role in the situation is two-pronged. Stricter rules at home have led Chinese companies to exploit Myanmar’s weaker oversight, shifting the pollution away from China. At the same time, China’s grip on rare earth refinement allows it to store up resources and use them as trade weapons, as seen in the 2010 restriction on exports to Japan.
Myanmar’s rare earth exports to China, worth over $4.2 billion between 2017 and 2024, highlight this dependence, with $1.4 billion in trade during 2023 alone. The KIA’s introduction of a 20 percent mining tax has made it harder for China to access these resources, pushing Beijing to negotiate with the rebels while still backing Myanmar’s military rulers.
India in Direct Contact With KIA
For India, direct contact with the KIA offers promise but also risk. The rebels’ control of these minerals could bring them more than $200 million yearly at present export volumes, but India’s lack of infrastructure and limited ability to process the raw minerals may mean continued dependence on Chinese refineries.
Any partnership with rebel groups risks upsetting Beijing, which considers Myanmar’s mines a key asset. The United States has also shown interest in Myanmar’s rare earths, discussing deals with both the junta and the KIA, although obstacles like US sanctions make progress tough.
Human rights and environmental concerns make the picture even more complicated. Groups such as Global Witness and ISP-Myanmar have linked rare earth mining to increased drug use, violence, and harm to local people.
The KIA says it will address these harms and has suspended some mines, promising stronger rules, but its ability to govern remains untested. Local advocates, including Lahtaw Kai and Seng Li, want more outside support and tough checks to make mining safer for both people and nature.
Myanmar’s rare earth deposits have become a hotspot in the struggle for key minerals. The KIA’s new role as gatekeeper has pulled in regional powers like China, India, and the US. For Thailand, the pollution crisis points to a need for more cooperation between countries.
India faces a tough road ahead, with old barriers, new rivals, and growing calls for responsible sourcing all shaping its choices as it seeks to secure rare earths from Myanmar’s rebel-held areas. The contaminated rivers and ruined lands near the mines are a stark warning of the cost that can come with the world’s rush to cleaner technology.
