Mongolia, a small country sandwiched between the two major powers of China and Russia, has long sought to free itself from their influence.
India, a confident country with tense relations with China, recently announced an important partnership due to shared interests.
India announced a cooperation with Mongolia on rare earth ore resources, a field of particular interest to the United States recently.
To ensure the smooth transport of these resources, India and Mongolia have racked their brains to come up with a third route.
This news has sparked great curiosity among Chinese netizens because India and Mongolia are far apart, with one in the south and the other in the north.
How did these two countries come together? What are the three transportation routes between India and Mongolia?
In December 2023, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced a significant decision: China decided to ban the export of rare earth ore resources to foreign countries.
This news elicited a strong reaction from the United States, whose allies, including Japan and South Korea, accused China of being unkind.
However, amidst the criticism from the West, one country remained unusually calm: India.
Some might ask, what does rare earth resources have to do with India?
In fact, the relationship is significant.
The development of India's technology and internet sectors depends on rare earth ore resources.
Although India is known for its environmental issues, in certain fields, India also holds a significant position globally, and these achievements rely on rare earth ore resources.
China's decision to ban rare earth exports, although primarily targeting the United States, also impacted India.
Despite India's long-standing efforts to reduce its dependency on China, it still needs Chinese resources in certain areas.
Therefore, when China issued the ban, India's reaction seemed somewhat peculiar. This peculiarity found its explanation when India announced its cooperation with Mongolia—India had found a new partner.
Following the U.S.-Mongolia agreement on rare earth ore resource development, India quietly followed suit and established a resource cooperation relationship with Mongolia.
On June 1, 2024, The Hindu reported the latest developments in India's mineral resource development and trading with Mongolia.
While the U.S.-Mongolia cooperation remains on paper, India's cooperation has already begun to materialize.
India not only established a joint working group with Mongolia but also selected processing locations for rare earth resources.
India even stated that the cooperation project would be completed by 2024, showcasing India's efficiency and strong infrastructure capabilities.
Despite the apparent enthusiasm around the India-Mongolia cooperation, many doubt the feasibility of India partnering with Mongolia across half of Asia.
After all, the motivations behind India's cooperation with Mongolia might have ulterior motives, especially after Mongolia's closer ties with the U.S., which raises suspicions about their true intentions.
To achieve resource transportation, India and Mongolia have developed three transportation routes.
The first is a cost-effective route through the Tianjin port area in China.
However, given the strained India-China relations, this route is clearly not viable.
India's "pride" also would not allow it to transport resources through China.
After brainstorming, India and Mongolia proposed two new routes.
The second route is through the International North-South Transport Corridor, entering Central Asia via Russia and then to India.
This route is long, and it is questionable whether India has sufficient financial resources to support this transportation method.
The third route is by sea; India plans to use the Far East Corridor, through Vladivostok in Russia, and then back to India.
Although the sea route is shorter than the second route, it is fraught with risks, passing through multiple countries and seas, some of which are pirate-infested.
Whether the resources can safely reach their destination is uncertain. Such a convoluted route could only be conceived by India.
Regardless of whether these routes can be realized, it is clear from these three routes that India sees China as its number one enemy.
As for Mongolia, whether it is strengthening ties with the U.S. or cooperating with India, it shows that Mongolia is drifting away from China and increasing its distrust of China.
India's actions appear to be aimed at promoting its development and actively seeking partners, but they seem quite blind.
Mongolia does not have the capability to constrain China's development. Whether India truly has the ability to absorb Mongolia's rare earth resources is also questionable.
On the other hand, although Mongolia seems to be establishing new strategic partnerships with more major countries, its partners are the U.S. and India.
The international credibility of the U.S. and India is questionable, and India's unpredictability suggests that Mongolia's cooperation with them is more of a gamble.
As observers, we can only say that whether the India-Mongolia cooperation can be implemented remains to be seen. We wish them the best of luck.
Comments