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India missed a rare earth bonanza in its own backyard while China quietly took control of Myanmar’s mineral-rich north through a militant proxy.
Finfluencer Jayant Mundhra sounded the alarm on LinkedIn, spotlighting how India lost a strategic opportunity in neighboring Myanmar’s Kachin state—home to nearly 45% of the world’s rare earth mineral supply.
“India could’ve been getting half the rare earths that go to China today, ONLY if our politicians/babus cared,” Mundhra wrote, underscoring how the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), a powerful insurgent group, mines these critical minerals and funnels them to China.
According to Mundhra, China’s rare earth pipeline from Myanmar began in earnest when the Aung San Suu Kyi-led government banned exports in 2018 to curb KIA’s influence. In response, China backed a military coup that placed Myanmar’s military in nominal control—while KIA continued operating autonomously in Kachin, striking deals directly with Beijing.
All disputes between Myanmar’s military and KIA, Mundhra claims, are now mediated in Kunming by Chinese People’s Liberation Army officials, effectively cementing China’s grip on the territory. “KIA has ended up being an extended arm of China and PLA,” he wrote.
While China leveraged a mix of diplomacy and subversion to secure a vital supply chain, India remained a bystander. “We literally had the world’s biggest hotspot of rare earth minerals right next to our borders… Yet, we let our most-adversarial neighbour take it all away,” Mundhra added.
Critics might argue against engaging militants, but Mundhra points out India’s recent pragmatism with the Taliban. “It should definitely have tried cracking a deal with KIA too. Or with the then Govt of Myanmar to help eliminate KIA.”
