E-Vehicles, Geopolitics of Critical Minerals, and India’s Foreign Policy: A Realist Analysis of India’s Engagement with Latin America

• SURESH K

  Panampilly Memorial Government College, Chalakudy

The global transition from oil vehicles to electric mobility has significantly heightened the strategic importance of critical minerals, particularly lithium, for energy storage systems. While countries such as the United States, China, and India are rapidly expanding their electric vehicle (EV) ecosystems, China’s existing dominance in lithium mining, processing, and supply chains creates a structural dependency that poses geopolitical and economic risks for emerging economies like India. Although recent scholarship highlights the role of critical minerals in shaping new geoeconomic alignments, limited attention has been paid to India’s evolving engagement with Latin America’s “Lithium Triangle” as a diversification strategy. Addressing this gap, the present study examines how lithium has become a strategic resource driving India’s diplomatic and economic outreach in Latin America to enhance supply chain resilience. Methodologically, the paper employs a qualitative analysis integrating policy documents, trade data, and secondary literature to map India’s emerging partnerships and the strategic motivations underpinning them. The paper argues that India’s engagement with Latin America in the context of electric vehicles (EVs) and critical minerals is driven primarily by realist considerations of strategic autonomy, energy security, and supply-chain resilience. The key findings indicate that lithium security is now integral to India’s long-term EV ambitions and its broader pursuit of technological and resource autonomy. The study highlights the significance of India’s proactive resource diplomacy as a means to mitigate vulnerabilities, reduce Chinese dependency, and strengthen its standing in the evolving global energy order.

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