Global Trade or Tech War? HCL’s Co-Founder Raises Red Flag on Weaponized Technologies

Updated: November 02, 2025 12:58

Ajai Chowdhry, HCL co-founder and National Quantum Mission chairman, warns that dominant nations, particularly China, are weaponizing critical technologies such as rare earth elements and semiconductor chips to exert global economic leverage. He advocates for India’s urgent focus on indigenous technology and e-waste recycling to secure strategic autonomy.

In a significant caution to policymakers and industry leaders, Ajai Chowdhry, co-founder of HCL and chairman of India’s National Quantum Mission, alerted the nation to the growing geopolitical risks of critical technologies being used as “weapons” in global trade. His remarks spotlight China’s near-monopoly—controlling up to 90% of global rare earth minerals essential for manufacturing electric vehicles, batteries, and advanced electronics—as a strategic vulnerability that could disrupt India and the world.

Key Highlights:

Weaponization of Tech Resources: Chowdhry stressed that technologies spanning software, hardware, rare earth minerals, and electric vehicles are increasingly employed as instruments of economic and political power clashes.
China’s Dominance: Over the past 15 years, China acquired control over most rare earth mines globally, a move that grants it the ability to throttle supplies and hurt manufacturing sectors elsewhere.
Impact on India: Disruptions in raw material supply threaten India’s ambitions in EV adoption, advanced electronics, and national security applications.
E-Waste Recycling Proposal: Highlighting environmental and logistical challenges in mining, Chowdhry proposes large-scale recycling of electronic waste within India to reclaim rare earth minerals, potentially meeting 30-40% of domestic demand swiftly.
Call for Strategic Autonomy: Chowdhry advocates urgent government backing for indigenous high-tech innovation and manufacturing to counterbalance external dependencies.
Security Concerns: He also raised alarms about the widespread infiltration of Chinese-made chips and devices in Indian infrastructure, which could compromise data security.

Chowdhry’s warnings underscore an urgent demand for India to build robust domestic technologies and resource supply chains to safeguard economic sovereignty amid global technological rivalries.

Sources: Times of India, Economic Times, ANI News, India Today

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