Weaponization of Technology and Critical Minerals

Context

At the BRICS Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the growing use of technology and critical minerals as instruments of geopolitical leverage.

What is Weaponization?

1. Weaponization refers to using control over an economically important technology, resource or supply chain to exert geopolitical pressure by restricting access.
2. The risk increases when production or processing is concentrated among a few countries.
3. AI, semiconductors, batteries, EVs and renewable-energy technologies are particularly exposed because they depend on specialised technologies and critical minerals.

Technology as a Geopolitical Instrument

1. Export controls: Restrictions on advanced chips and sensitive technologies can limit access for strategic competitors.
2. Sanctions and entity restrictions: Selected companies can be denied access to markets, finance or technological ecosystems.
3. Technological chokepoints: Control over a specialised production stage can constrain the wider industry. ASML’s role in advanced semiconductor-manufacturing equipment illustrates this vulnerability.
4. Platform dependence: Reliance on foreign AI models and digital platforms can create strategic exposure.
5. Standards-setting power: Technological leaders can influence technical standards and gain long-term market advantages.
6. Governance architecture: Competing approaches to technology governance can shape future international rules and institutional frameworks.

Critical Minerals as a Geopolitical Instrument

1. Processing concentration: Control over refining can create leverage even when extraction occurs elsewhere. China has a dominant position in rare-earth processing.
2. Export licensing: End-use certification and tighter licensing can regulate access to rare earths, gallium, germanium and graphite.
3. Overseas asset acquisition: Securing mining rights abroad can strengthen long-term control over strategic resources.
4. Critical minerals are essential inputs for EVs, batteries, renewable-energy systems and advanced defence equipment.

India’s Vulnerabilities

1. Import dependence: India remains heavily dependent on overseas supplies of several critical minerals, including lithium, cobalt and nickel.
2. Exploration gap: Domestic mineral potential remains insufficiently explored and developed.
3. Processing deficit: Limited domestic refining and processing capacity restricts value addition.
4. Technology gap: India faces capability gaps in frontier AI, high-performance computing and semiconductor manufacturing.
5. Capital constraints: These sectors require large investments and involve substantial technological and commercial risks.
6. Strategic balancing: India must manage different external dependencies for technology and mineral supplies.

India’s Major Initiatives

1. 30 Critical Minerals: India identified 30 critical minerals in 2023.
2. National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM): Covers exploration, mining, processing and recycling across the mineral value chain.
3. KABIL: Khanij Bidesh India Limited seeks strategic mineral assets and mining opportunities overseas.
4. IndiaAI Mission: Seeks to expand domestic AI computing capacity.
5. India Semiconductor Mission: Promotes domestic semiconductor manufacturing.
6. ACC Battery PLI: Supports domestic production of Advanced Chemistry Cell batteries.
7. International cooperation: India participates in the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative, Minerals Security Partnership and BRICS.
8. Recycling: Recovery of critical minerals from e-waste, batteries and electronic products is being promoted as an additional resource stream.

Way Forward

1. Accelerate domestic resource development through faster exploration, auctions and project execution.
2. Expand refining and downstream capacity to increase domestic value addition.
3. Establish strategic mineral reserves for supplies vulnerable to disruption.
4. Diversify external sourcing across reliable producer countries.
5. Improve long-term finance, skilled manpower and research in strategic technologies.
6. Align mineral security with industrial, energy and defence planning.
7. Promote greater participation of the Global South in technology standard-setting and rule-making.

Conclusion

The growing concentration of strategic technologies and critical-mineral supply chains is creating new forms of geopolitical dependence. India’s long-term resilience requires stronger domestic capabilities, diversified sourcing and deeper international cooperation so that disruptions at any single point do not undermine critical economic and security interests.

FAQs

1. What is a technological chokepoint?
   It is a critical stage or component with few substitutes through which an important supply chain must pass.
2. Why can processing create mineral-security risks?
   A country may possess mineral resources but remain vulnerable if it depends on another country for refining and processing.
3. What is sovereign computing?
   It refers to domestically controlled computing capacity available for strategic applications such as advanced AI.
4. Why does standards-setting matter in technology competition?
   Technical standards influence compatibility, market access and future technological ecosystems.
5. Why are critical minerals important for defence?
   They are required for several advanced defence platforms and systems, linking resource access with strategic capability.
6. Why is supply-chain diversification necessary?
   Multiple sourcing options reduce exposure to export restrictions, geopolitical tensions and sudden disruptions.