New Delhi: As China’s critical mineral export controls continue to reinforce its global dominance in the sector, Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a BRICS summit session on Sunday (September 13) once again opposed the ‘weaponisation’ of the resource and batted for ‘inclusivity’ in adopting technologies.“The weaponisation of technology and critical minerals can hinder our shared progress,” Modi said without naming fellow BRICS member China during a summit session on ‘Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability’ in Delhi on Sunday. Therefore, he added, “we have emphasised inclusivity in the adoption of technology”.A day earlier the New Delhi Declaration released on the summit’s first day had also reiterated this concern. Recognising the role critical minerals play in the development of renewable energy technologies, the grouping affirmed, in language virtually identical to last year’s Rio Declaration, the need to promote “reliable, responsible, diversified, resilient, fair, sustainable and just supply chains” while also preserving sovereign rights over the resource.After the Rio summit, which took place just three months after China introduced its rare earth export controls in response to Washington’s new tariffs, Modi had said it is important that no country uses critical minerals “for its own selfish gain or as a weapon against others”.Rare earth minerals are used to make magnets that are used in applications ranging from electric vehicles and wind turbines to data centres and defence systems.Beijing’s export controls have sharply foregrounded the fact that China accounts for some 60% of the world’s mined production of magnet rare earths, 91% of refined output and 94% of permanent magnet supplies, per figures tallied by the International Energy Agency.While it announced even tighter restrictions in October 2025, it scaled these back after the Busan summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.New Delhi said in October that some Indian companies had received licenses to import rare earth magnets from China, and later last year the Business Standard cited officials as saying that license green lights had started ‘gradually’ coming in.But Reuters reported earlier this month citing sources that approvals remain limited for India. The news agency has noted how the Indian government has moved to devise ways to reduce dependence on China.During his address on Sunday, Modi also said that BRICS is ‘promoting resilience’ because “pandemics, climate disasters and supply-chain disruptions have shown that in today’s interconnected world, no crisis remains confined to a single region”.His remark comes against the background of the West Asia conflict severely disrupting energy flows from the region, including to India, which is heavily dependent on imports for its crude oil, LPG and LNG requirements.BRICS members – now expanded to include Iran and the United Arab Emirates, which find themselves on opposing sides in the conflict – under India’s rotating leadership managed to reach a consensus on Saturday by not blaming or naming any country in connection with the war in their New Delhi Declaration.The summit also marked Xi’s first visit to India in seven years, with the state of India-China relations plummeting after the deadly 2020 border clash in eastern Ladakh and gradually thawing starting late 2024.Also on Sunday, Modi held bilateral meetings with Evariste Ndayishimiye in his capacities as Chairperson of the African Union as well as President of Burundi, where India said the two sides discussed the ‘early convening’ of the fourth India-Africa Forum Summit on a mutually convenient date. The summit has been postponed likely in view of the severe Ebola outbreak in Congo.He also met South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Ugandan Vice President Jessica Alupo and Nigerian Vice President Kashim Mustapha.