India and Japan have solidified their collaboration in the mining sector through a new agreement targeting critical minerals, vital for advancing clean energy, technology, and economic stability.
On Friday, Union Minister of Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy revealed that a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) was signed between India’s Ministry of Mines and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Tokyo for the 15th India-Japan Annual Summit.
The agreement aims to create robust and diversified supply chains for critical minerals and rare earth elements, supporting both nations’ objectives of achieving energy security, food security, and net-zero emissions. The collaboration will focus on sharing information regarding policies and regulations, joint development of mineral projects, sustainable deep-sea mining practices, and strategies for stockpiling critical minerals.
Additionally, the pact promotes joint investments in the exploration, mining, and processing of critical minerals within India and in resource-rich third countries. Both parties are open to exploring further cooperative initiatives as mutually agreed, according to Reddy.
Following discussions with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Prime Minister Modi highlighted the strategic vision of the partnership. “We aim to achieve a 10 trillion yen investment from Japan in India over the next decade, with a special focus on fostering connections between small and medium enterprises and startups of both nations,” he stated during a press briefing.
Modi emphasized that the bilateral roadmap for the next ten years is built on eight key pillars: investment, innovation, economic security, environmental sustainability, technology, health, mobility, people-to-people exchanges, and state-prefecture partnerships.
