KIO denies reports of secret rare-earth mining deal with India

The Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), the political wing of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), said reports claiming it had signed a secret agreement with the Indian government to extract rare-earth minerals (REM) are false.

The claim that the KIO and India had signed a secret agreement to mine REM deposits in Kachin State was first reported by a website called Silicon Valley Times. On December 14, the report was translated and republished by some Myanmar media outlets.

Colonel Naw Bu, spokesperson for the KIO/KIA, said such reports were being fabricated as part of a political game between China and the United States and were being carried only by US lobby media.