ST Editorial- Race for the minerals: Whither Sri Lanka

A New Delhi datelined press release was published in the local newspapers announcing that a Sri Lankan minister had been in India and discussed some form of collaboration between the two countries on the exploitation of minerals in Sri Lanka. But the press release was not issued in Colombo.

The New Delhi report is what the Indian side says. That a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sri Lanka on ‘Cooperation in the Field of Geology and Mineral Resources’ is on the cards. So, are the people of Sri Lanka not supposed to know more?

The press release states that India is in the final stages of agreeing on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on ‘Cooperation in the Field of Geology and Mineral Resources’. It highlights that Sri Lanka’s graphite and mineral sands are deposits formed primarily on the island’s beaches due to the specific gravity of the mineral grains. They are a major source of zirconium, titanium, rare earths, etc.—the ‘oil of the future’ for advanced high-tech and clean energy technology.

In a separate development, India has recently submitted an application to the International Seabed Authority (ISBA) in Jamaica for exploration in the Indian Ocean’s international seabed area, which overlaps with the ocean boundary claimed by Sri Lanka under its extended continental shelf submission at the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (UNCLCS). India has objected to this claim by Sri Lanka. The resultant deadlock will be discussed later this month at the ISBA. How prepared is Sri Lanka to meet this challenge? What is Sri Lanka’s position with regard to these potential sovereign assets and ocean resources?

These developments also connect to the June 2023 conclusion of the BBNJ (Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction) Treaty, which provides for the protection of the ocean beyond national boundaries. Sri Lanka signed this convention last year. The treaty coming into force will complicate claims for exploration and extraction of deep-sea minerals due to the BBNJ’s ocean conservation emphasis. On land, Sri Lanka’s mining industry is buried in corruption while unexploited resources sit under the ground. Efforts to make use of the minerals are circuitous, ambiguous, politicised and littered with obstacles.

Under the sea, the critical minerals race by the big powers, India included, is expected to heat up in 2025 and beyond with China ahead in the race. The world is also witnessing the defining role that access to critical minerals is playing out in geopolitics with the current US bid to grab a deal in the most disgraceful, bullying manner from Ukraine as was seen on Friday at the White House spectacle for its critical minerals as payback for American funding for the war against Russia.

The resource-rich countries from Congo to Chile, in the meantime, will want their fair share of the ‘net-zero’ minerals. Where is Sri Lanka in all of this?