Magnetic Dependence: How China’s Rare Earth Monopoly Shapes India’s Defence and Strategic Autonomy
Author : Darshan Gajjar
Abstract :
Contemporary warfare is increasingly shaped not by visible force structures alone but by control over critical materials embedded deep within defence-industrial supply chains. Rare Earth Permanent Magnets (REPMs), indispensable to advanced military, aerospace, and electronic systems, have emerged as a foundational yet underexplored determinant of strategic autonomy. China’s near-monopoly over rare earth processing and high-performance magnet manufacturing has created asymmetric dependencies for import-reliant states, exposing them to coercive leverage in both peacetime and crisis scenarios. This paper analyses the strategic implications of India’s dependence on externally sourced REPMs, examines the defence-industrial vulnerabilities arising from supply chain concentration, and evaluates India’s recent policy initiative to establish indigenous REPM manufacturing capacity. It argues that control over REPMs constitutes a critical pillar of twenty-first-century defence sovereignty, comparable to semiconductors and propulsion technologies, and that India’s intervention represents a necessary recalibration of its approach to strategic autonomy.
Keywords :
Rare Earth Permanent Magnets (REPMs), Strategic Autonomy, Defence Supply Chain Vulnerability, Critical Minerals Geopolitics, India’s Defence Manufacturing.
