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India to resume rare earth exports after seven years

Sandeep Dikshit
The Hindu
NEW DELHI, February 18, 2011

It is set to export 6,000 tonnes of rare earth chloride to a Japanese company.

For the first time in seven years, India will begin the export of rare earth minerals, said government sources here on Thursday.

India is set to export about 6,000 tonnes of rare earth chloride to a Japanese company, marking its first entry into the rare earth exporters club, which is now totally dominated by China.

The decision to enter into such a partnership was taken during a summit meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Japanese counterpart, Naoto Kan, in Tokyo last year. Indian Rare Earths Limited, a public sector undertaking under the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), will make the supplies of rare earth chloride to Toyota Tsusho.

The sources wanted the development to be seen in conjunction with the Indo-Japan Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CEPA) signed on Wednesday and the decision to include Japanese Maritime Self Defence forces in the joint India-United States exercises for the second successive year.

The Indian move to enter the rare earth exports market comes at a time when China is cutting down export quotas to ensure that its industry moves up the value chain instead of simply selling raw material for value addition by other companies and countries. India had stopped producing rare earths for exports in 2004 but is now confident of exporting it at good prices due to firming up of prices in the international market.

India and Japan are now looking at the possibility of a joint venture between IREL and Toyota Tsusho though the issue of environmental clearances for the proposed plant in Orissa could be a major issue to be sorted out.

Information about the Indian decision came a day after Japan expressed interest in rare earth tie-ups with India on the occasion of signing of the CEPA in Tokyo. Sources said the IREL and the Toyota subsidiary were currently discussing the ration of stakes that both sides would hold in the joint venture. “This will take India-Japan ties to the truly strategic level,” said diplomatic sources.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article1466014.ece

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Japan courts India to counter China: analysts

by Staff Writers
New Delhi (AFP) Aug 23, 2007

Japan's bid for a strategic partnership with India aims to counter China's rising influence, with Tokyo omitting Beijing from its vision of an Asian 'arc of freedom', analysts said Thursday.

The highlight of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's three-day visit to India was the signing of a roadmap for strategic and global partnership between the two Asian giants.

Abe called for greater political, security, defence and trade relations.

"They are keen to consolidate their relations with India, which they see as a balance of power in the east against China's growing influence," said Sushila Narsimhan, professor of Japanese history at Delhi University.

Abe made no reference to China on Wednesday when he called for the creation of an "arc of freedom and prosperity" bringing together Australia, India, Japan and the United States, but Beijing loomed large in the background.

Analyst C. Raja Mohan said the trip had highlighted Abe's key strategic aims -- rebuilding a "foreign policy that is rooted in Japan's Asian identity and constructing a new Asia that is committed to democratic values and freer trade."

"Deepening strategic cooperation with India is essential for Japan's ambition to forge a new Asian architecture," Mohan, a professor at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, wrote in the Indian Express.

Abe has long championed improving ties with India. But the conservative premier paid his first visit in office last year to China in a bid to improve sour relations between the East Asian giants.

"Obviously his visit to India is related to Abe's secret intention to contain China," said Kenichi Odawara, a professor emeritus at Japan's Nihon University.

"Although Abe's first trip abroad was to China, it was a fence-mending trip for the sake of Japan's national interest," he said, adding that Abe would win "leverage from stronger ties with India" if he wanted a harder line on China.

Abe and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh called for improved security of regional sea lanes and a massive increase in bilateral trade to 20 billion dollars by 2010 from eight billion today.

While trade between India and Japan remains low, the size of their economies makes the potential for expansion huge.

"India's poor infrastructure has been a big hurdle in attracting Japanese investment, but given the obvious threats from China, they will increasingly look to India," Narsimhan said.

Abe announced the two countries had also agreed on a basic currency swap agreement to tide each other over in case of a short-term liquidity crunch.

Even though no new initiatives were announced, analysts said Abe's high-profile visit marked a new shift in Indo-Japanese relations.

"Earlier, India's expectations from Japan were limited to economic factors, but now the two countries are talking about a partnership for global reach," said H.S. Prabhakar, associate professor of Japanese studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University.

"There were many references to a quadilateral strategic force (including the United States and Australia) in Abe's speech."

"A new broader Asia that broke away from geographical boundaries is now beginning to take on a distinct form," Abe said in an address to a special session of the Indian parliament.

However, despite the positive mood, New Delhi failed to get Tokyo's public backing for a historic civilian nuclear deal with the United States under which India will get access to nuclear fuel and technology.

Abe remained non-committal, saying Tokyo would "wait and watch closely" the outcome of negotiations between India and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

India also has to win the approval of the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group -- of which Japan is a member -- before the accord takes shape.

But analysts said that Japan's failure to deliver a public endorsement was unlikely to affect strengthening bilateral ties.

"Japan may not openly support it, but it will not create any problems for India," said Narsimhan.


Source: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Japan_courts_India_to_counter_China_analysts_999.html