India ‘reliable partner’ for key minerals: Oz
Australia’s abundant critical minerals and India’s ambitious energy transition plans make the countries ideal partners, with New Delhi seen as a “reliable and trusted partner” in this crucial field, Australian envoy Barry O’farrell said on Monday.
Cooperation in critical minerals, key to India’s plans to develop clean technologies and electric vehicles, is set to be high on the agenda during Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s four-day visit to India from March 8. O’farrell told reporters India’s Khanij Bidesh India Ltd (KABIL) is set to make a “significant investment” in Australia’s critical minerals. Albanese’s interactions with the Indian leadership will focus on deepening economic, defence and people-topeople ties. Both sides also have a shared ambition of ensuring a peaceful and sovereign Indo-pacific region, O’farrell said.
Referring to Australia’s critical mineral reserves, he said: “There is no doubt we are seen by India as a reliable and trusted partner, which is exactly the same way as we see India.” He pointed to natural complementa
rities between the two sides — Australia wants to be a renewable energy superpower by leveraging its rare earths, while India is one of the world’s fastest growing energy consumers. With Australian authorities recently blocking China-linked Yuxiao Fund’s proposal to increase its stake in a strategic rare earths producer, O’farrell said his country’s decisions on such issues are closely linked to national interests. In this context, he pointed to Australia’s ban on Chinese-owned Huawei from the country’s 5G network in 2018.
“Pre-covid, we made a decision about our 5G network that was in our national interest...because we will always make decisions that we think benefit us. KABIL is about to make a significant investment in that sector in Australia, which is welcomed both by the Australian government but also by the Indian government,” O’farrell said.