India, Nov. 27 -- In an ideal world, a country need not manufacture everything at home. It need not even manufacture everything it needs to make things it wants to export to the outside world. But we do not live in an ideal world anymore. It is a world where the largest economy, the US, is on a tariff rampage, and the second-largest economy, China has tried to counteract some of this by holding back what is arguably the most critical component in modern manufacturing: Rare earth minerals.

India, like most other major economies in the world, is having to deal with both problems. It is still in trade dialogue with the US and, hopefully, an amicable solution will be achieved soon. However, the supply constraint side of the problem is more d...