Eurasia Press & News
When Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff, General Asim Munir, presented Rare Earth Mineral (REM) samples to U.S. President Donald J. Trump at the White House, the gesture went far beyond ceremonial diplomacy. In a world undergoing a seismic shift toward clean energy, electric vehicles, and AI-driven technology, the exchange symbolized a profound geopolitical reality: minerals are the new instruments of power.
What oil represented in the 20th century, rare earths symbolize in the 21st – the backbone of strategic technologies, defense industries, and the global energy transition. As the competition for supply chains intensifies, Pakistan’s natural endowments – long overlooked – are now reemerging as potential strategic assets in the unfolding mineral geopolitics.
“In the 20th century, nations fought wars for oil. In the 21st, they will compete for control over critical minerals.” – World Economic Forum, 2024 Report on Strategic Resources.
Power in the Age of Minerals
Rare Earth Minerals, a group of 17 elements including neodymium, dysprosium, and lanthanum, are indispensable to electric vehicles, wind turbines, smartphones, semiconductors, and missile guidance systems. Despite their name, they are not geologically scarce – but their extraction, refining, and processing are technically complex and environmentally hazardous, giving enormous power to countries controlling these stages.
Currently, China dominates over 70% of global REM production and 90% of refining capacity. This monopoly allows Beijing to weaponize supply chains, as seen in 2010 when it restricted exports to Japan during a diplomatic dispute. The U.S., EU, and Japan now see REM diversification as a national security imperative, prompting what analysts call “the new Great Game beneath the surface.”
The United States has launched initiatives like the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP) with allies including Australia, Canada, and South Korea, to secure non-Chinese sources. Similarly, India, Vietnam, and several African nations have entered joint ventures to exploit their reserves. The competition is not just economic; it’s deeply strategic- tied to control over future technologies, green transitions, and military superiority.
Geopolitical power is moving underground as the 21st-century economy is powered by AI, military systems, and electric vehicles. Alliances, trade regulations, and even diplomatic agendas are being redefined by the race for rare earths. Mineral warfare is becoming a key weapon in contemporary states’ toolboxes.
Pakistan as Potential Pivot
Particularly in the Chagai district of Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, and portions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan possesses substantial quantities of rare earth and essential minerals. Neodymium, scandium, lithium, and cobalt are all found in geological surveys and are necessary for the production of defense and renewable energy technology.
However, due to poor administration, lack of infrastructure, and reluctance from international investors, Pakistan’s natural wealth remain underutilized and underexplored for many years. Islamabad is now beginning to realize the strategic importance of its underground resources in the midst of the global resource race.
The symbolic delivery of REM samples to President Trump by General Asim Munir is indicative of Pakistan’s refocused diplomacy, which aims to establish the country as a trustworthy ally in the developing resource competition between the United States and China. It demonstrates a readiness to connect economic diplomacy with national security through strategic diversification outside the conventional security focus.
Pakistan’s strategic calculation is improved by its placement at the intersection of China, the Arabian Sea, and Central Asia. China has already made investments in infrastructure through CPEC that may make it easier to transport and extract minerals. However, Islamabad must now strike a careful balance between pursuing Western interests and utilizing Chinese collaboration in order to prevent becoming overly reliant on any one bloc.
Challenges on the Way
Pakistan confronts several institutional and strategic obstacles when it comes to using rare earth minerals (REMs) as tools of diplomatic and economic influence, despite its potential mineral abundance. The main barrier is the lack of a cohesive national mining policy that links geological exploration with economic and foreign policy objectives, as well as the fragmentation of institutions. Less than 10% of the nation’s mineral potential has been properly investigated, according to the Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation (PMDC), meaning that enormous quantities remain unexplored and undervalued.
The absence of technological capability for extraction and processing is equally urgent. Pakistan currently lacks the advanced refining infrastructure needed for REMs. This reliance runs the risk of reducing the nation to a provider of raw materials, losing out on the high-value profits from manufacturing and processing. Furthermore, security concerns in mineral-rich areas, regulatory inconsistencies, and overlapping federal-provincial jurisdictions discourage international investment and postpone sustainable development.
Islamabad has to manage a careful balancing act between major forces in the geopolitical arena. Western nations look for alternate supply chains that are not controlled by Beijing, even though China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) provides ready infrastructure and technological assistance. By leveraging alliances with China, the United States, the European Union, and Gulf states at the same time, Pakistan should position itself as a neutral facilitator in the developing mineral diplomacy rather than becoming overly dependent on any one bloc.
Toward a National REM Strategy
Pakistan requires a multifaceted policy strategy based on capacity creation, institutional reform, and strategic engagement in order to advance. A National Rare Earth Authority may ensure openness and investor confidence while streamlining environmental regulations, licensing, and governance. In order to ensure that Pakistan advances up the value chain, cooperative public-private partnerships with technologically sophisticated countries can facilitate knowledge transfer and local talent development. Incorporating environmental protections and community involvement is also essential to avoiding the “resource curse” that has befallen other developing nations.
In order to turn minerals from simple commodities into tools of economic sovereignty and strategic diplomacy, REM policy must be in line with Pakistan’s industrial policy, climate strategy, and international relations.
Rare earth minerals are the new currency of influence in a rapidly changing global order where power is defined by energy transitions and technological superiority. Pakistan may use its mineral resources as a basis for economic recovery and geopolitical power if it can act with institutional strength and strategic clarity. “Control food and you control people; control oil and you control nations,” as Henry Kissinger famously said. Critical minerals could define the structure of global dominance in the modern world, and Pakistan’s capacity to use them could reshape its position in the new global order.
The power resource map is changing as a result of the irreversible energy shift. The minerals buried beneath nations like Pakistan are essential to the world’s next industrial revolution, which is focused on clean energy, artificial intelligence, and defense innovation. A sign of willingness was sent by Islamabad’s recent mineral diplomacy in Washington, but institutional action is now required. The choices Pakistan makes today will influence its economic sovereignty and geopolitical significance for decades to come. This is a unique time when geology and geopolitics collide.
Rare earth minerals have the potential to be Pakistan’s chance of a geo-economic comeback if they are used well; in transforming the country from a political outpost to a key link in the world’s most important supply chain. The question for Pakistan is if it capitalize on this chance to turn its mineral wealth into a source of national power, or will it just watch helplessly as the world plays a new game of power? The response will rely on Islamabad’s ability to match its priorities, alliances, and policies with the needs of a global economy where minerals have emerged as the new currency of power.
