@mythbuster
Went through the article, Blum Pai. I agree with the article when it suggests that India needs to take a twin track approach to resolve the REE dilemma.
In the short-term, it needs to acquiesce to Chinese demands to solve the immediate requirements.
In the long-term, it needs to develop its own derisked supply chain.
Where I disagree is that there is any role of Afghanistan in solving this issue. The fact is that we do have lots of REE- almost 6% of the global reserves. And this is when we have not even done enough exploration within the country. Not to mention the vast amounts available as part of mining and refining wastes such as coal fly ash, red mud, zinc, copper and aluminium refinery waste etc. Our problem is that we don't have the capacity and tech to refine and process these REEs. Our main manufacturer IREML has an ability to process about 8 or 9 of the 17 REEs, but their capacity is insufficient. The problem is to acquire the tech and set up capacities which will take anywhere between 2-3 to 10 years depending on which metal we want to process. Acquiring the mythical pot of gold in AFG doesn't address the basic issue.
Regards