Piyush Goyal urges global south unity at UNCTAD to solve critical mineral, fertiliser supply issues

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has called for greater collaboration among the global south nations to broker lasting solutions to shared challenges such as the supply of critical minerals and shortage of fertilisers, issues that are presently impacting several countries, including India.

"Irrespective, we believe global south, South cooperation converted into concrete action can provide genuine and long lasting solutions in several areas not the least in areas of current concern like the critical minerals problem or the problems of adequate supply of fertilisers that many nations in the world are confronted with," he said on October 22.

Goyal was addressing the 16th session of th e United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The minister’s comment comes as China, which dominates the global trade, earlier this month significantly escalated its export controls on rare earth elements and finished magnets - which are used in consumer electronics, EVs to military equipment - building on curbs it imposed in April.

Given these restrictions, India is looking to diversify its rare earth sources by negotiating trade deals with Chile, Peru and other countries and boosting domestic exploration by working with startups by recycling critical minerals.

At UNCTAD, Goyal also highlighted the volatile and unpredictable global environment, especially in trade as well as the "profound trust deficit whether in multilateral institutions, different international bodies, and amongst nations."

The minister acknowledged that multiple, critical challenges confront the world almost on a daily basis ranging from erosion of confidence in the rules-based trading system, imposition of tariff and non-tariff barriers to free trade, over-concentration of supply chains in certain geographies, to the dilution of the special and differential treatment that was provided when the WTO was originally set up.

Goyal also called out the unilateral, environmental restrictions that certain countries are introducing, without directly mentioning the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism or CBAM.

India has been seeking relaxations in the carbon tax proposed to be imposed by the EU on imports of steel, aluminum, cement and fertilisers from January, 2026.

"We all need a reset, a new way to address the challenges and find innovative ways to resolve the issues that confront several nations. At times solutions for existential problems that confront several nations. India's own development journey can provide a good template to address some of these issues," Goyal added.

Earlier while addressing UNCTAD's Ministerial Roundtable, the commerce minister reiterated that India banks on self resilience to avoid overdependence on any particular geography.

"That has been our first approach to addressing this challenge because clearly we cannot do anything about what is happening in the Red Sea or the health pandemics," he said.