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NEW DELHI: Saudi Arabia and India agreed on Tuesday to strengthen cooperation in the critical minerals sector, as New Delhi seeks to accelerate its green energy transition.
Critical minerals, such as lithium, copper and rare earth, are essential raw materials required for clean energy technologies, used in wind turbines, electric vehicles, battery manufacturing and to help develop artificial intelligence systems.
India’s coal and mines minister G. Kishan Reddy and his Saudi counterpart, Bandar Al-Khorayef, met in the Indian capital and discussed “fostering resilient supply chains, investments in mineral value addition, and technological collaboration,” India’s Ministry of Mines said in a statement.
“India and Saudi Arabia are deepening cooperation in the critical minerals sector,” the ministry said.
“The dialogue aligns with India’s National Critical Minerals Mission, focusing on securing resources essential for clean energy and high-tech industries.”
The Indian government launched just last week the National Critical Mineral Mission, a comprehensive plan aimed at securing the country’s national, energy and food security needs.
Under the mission, India plans to secure overseas mining assets, while also expanding its domestic exploration of critical mineral blocks, increase research and development projects, and create 10,000 skilled professionals specializing in the sector.
These efforts are also aimed toward supporting India’s target of cutting its emissions to net zero by 2070.
During their meeting on Tuesday, Reddy and Al-Khorayef “explored strengthening mineral supply chains, investment opportunities and knowledge-sharing in mineral exploration,” the Indian mines ministry said.
Saudi Arabia, which estimates the value of its untapped mineral resources at $2.5 trillion, is aiming to become a global hub for critical minerals trade, with the sector being key to the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 diversification and transformation plan. 
In 2022, Riyadh started awarding mining exploration licenses to international investors. 
“Critical minerals, along with AI, and similar future commodities will be the new proverbial oil,” Kabir Taneja, deputy director at the Observer Research Foundation, told Arab News.
While commodities are traditionally a game of individual state interests and policies rather than a product of multilateralism, “states like India (and) Saudi Arabia should join hands in pursuing these futures as part of a common narrative, that is of multipolarity,” he said. 
Cooperation in the critical minerals sector is likely to benefit both India and Saudi Arabia, said Muddassir Qamar, associate professor at the Center for West Asian Studies in Jawaharlal Nehru University.
“India’s plan for augmenting its manufacturing sector and compete with major manufacturing hubs in Asia and globally would require import of critical minerals, which Saudi Arabia has,” he told Arab News. 
“If this can evolve into more than just transactional relations, it’s a win-win for both countries.”

LONDON: The UK is planning to establish a council to offer advice to the government and discuss matters relating to Islamophobia.

The council, to be set up by Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, will have 16 members. Among its duties will be helping provide a new official definition of Islamophobia in the UK.

Former Conservative Minister Dominic Grieve is thought to have been recommended to lead the council, having previously chaired the Citizens’ UK Commission on Islam.

Qari Asim, a Leeds-based imam who previously worked as an advisor to the government, has also been shortlisted to join the council.

Grieve wrote a forward to a 2018 all-party parliamentary group report which established an Islamophobia definition subsequently adopted by the Labour Party.

The all-party Islamophobia report determined that “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.”

Grieve said he “greatly welcomed” the report in his forward, adding that it “makes an important contribution to the debate as to how Islamophobia can best be addressed. It is well researched and can give all of us food both for thought and positive action.”

He told the Daily Telegraph that he had not yet been approached to lead the new council, but added: “If I can be of assistance in doing something constructive requested by any government on a non-party political basis I am willing to consider it. It depends on what it is and whether I can add value and help the wider public service.”

On the report’s definition of Islamophobia, he said: “It was apparent at the time that defining Islamophobia is extremely difficult for perfectly valid reasons relating to freedom of expression.”

Grieve added: “Perfectly law-abiding Muslims going about their business and well integrated into society are suffering discrimination and abuse.”

The Daily Telegraph reported that Rayner is looking to establish a similar council on antisemitism, alongside plans to widen reporting of anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish non-crime hate incidents in the UK.

A spokesman for Rayner’s department told the newspaper: “All forms of religious and racial hatred have absolutely no place in our society. The Government engages regularly with faith communities to help foster strong working relationships and we are actively exploring a more integrated and cohesive approach to tackling racial and religious hatred, including Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. Further details of this work will be set out shortly.”