Discovery of lithium reserves in occupied Kashmir. India has discovered huge reserves of lithium metal in the Reasi district of illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
Jammu and Kashmir is a border dispute between Pakistan and India. In 2019, India abolished occupied Kashmir’s special status by repealing Article 370 of its constitution, which promised unique privileges to the Muslim-majority state. Pakistani and Kashmiri politicians were outraged by the move.
The Indian Ministry of Mines reported the discovery of lithium reserves in occupied Kashmir, a soft, silvery-white nonferrous metal that is a critical component in batteries.
“Geological Survey of India for the first time established lithium inferred resources (G3) of 5.9 million tonnes in the Salal-Haimana area of the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir,” the UAE-based National News quoted the ministry as having said.
India is currently dependent on lithium imports as it is making efforts to promote the use of electric vehicles that run on batteries in order to reduce carbon emissions. The lithium discovery in the occupied region would be exploited by India to achieve its EV goals.
Jammu and Kashmir is a region administered by India as a union territory and consists of the southern portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947, and between India and China since 1962.
