KIA reportedly seeks rare earthsales via Kachin ethnic networks in Indian states
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Phyo/Thuta Kyaw (NP News) - March 17
The Statesman has investigated reports that the KIA is attempting to sell rare earth minerals through some Indian states based on the Kachin diaspora.
A news outlet called Silicon Valley Times reported that India and the KIA had reached a secret agreement on rare earth in late 2025, but an official from the Indian Embassy in Myanmar told The Statesman that the news was false.
No other follow-up news emerged in relation to this story, and the news outlet itself has been discredited as a source of unproven false news, and no significant changes have been seen on the ground.
“India will not compromise with the KIA by breaking its good relations with the Myanmar government,” said a source in northern Kachin State.
However, he said there are signs that the KIA is trying to reach out to the Kachin Jingpo communities living in India and communicate with the state governments where they live.
Currently, KIA is mining large amounts of rare earth in Panwah and selling it to China, and most of the people mining in the area are Chinese businessmen.
“When the KIA raised the price of rare earth, the Chinese closed the Panwah gate. The KIA is trying to build relations with India. Many Kachin people go to the Kachin Manaw Festival in India. But the KIA is behind it,” he said.
He said the KIA is helping the Kachin ethnic groups with the festival to build relationships.
“Kachin is almost a self-governing region there. There are also some Duwa-ruled areas. The government does not deal directly with the KIA. It is assumed that they want to establish relations with the states. They try to connect with the state government through local Kachin ethnic groups. Not at the central government level. Indian government will not deal with them that much,” he said.
He said that KIA is keen to sell rare earth to India, and the most important thing is to offer a good price rather than China.
“If they could sell to India, they would get double or triple the price. It would be a good price,” he said.
On the other hand, although it cannot be confirmed, information obtained by The Statesman journal indicates that there was a meeting between the KIA and the CIA.
"What we see is that they are trying to eliminate China's influence on Myanmar. They don't care if Myanmar collapses, they just want to prevent Chinese influence from affecting them," a source said.
India may want to diversify its rare earth supply chain, rather than relying solely on China, said Angshuman Choudhury, a PhD candidate at the National University of Singapore and King’s College London who specialises in India-Myanmar relations and border politics, in an article by Emily Fishbein titled ‘Not for Sale: Rare Earths Pitch Ignites Debate Over US-Myanmar Engagement’.
However, his statement was not referring to the KIA but to the situation between the Indian government and Myanmar government.
“The recent India-China rapprochement opens up ways for both to quietly cooperate on procuring rare earths from northern Myanmar, although Beijing would certainly want to preserve its dominance in the region,” he said.
The Statesman reached out to the Indian Embassy in Myanmar for a comment on the matter, but it has not responded at the time of writing.