Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met Narendra Modi, his Indian counterpart, in Sydney on Wednesday to discuss regional security and economic ties and signed a migration deal to boost Indian student and business travel to Australia…The two leaders also discussed the impact of Russia's conflict with Ukraine on developing countries, particularly food and fuel security, Indian officials said…Modi is visiting Australia for the first time since 2014, and two months after Albanese travelled to India…Australia, whose largest trading partner is China, is seeking to diversify its export markets, including forging closer trade ties with India…Modi said they had discussed increasing cooperation on mining and critical minerals, and would work towards a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement.

Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said on Tuesday the automaker would probably pick a location for a new factory by the end of this year…When the Wall Street Journal's Thorold Barker asked Musk at an event if India was interesting, he said, "Absolutely"…Tesla announced earlier this year that it would open a gigafactory in Mexico as the world's most valuable automaker pushes to expand its global output.

Japanese carmaker Honda Motor has exported its first shipment of Chinese-made electric and plug-in hybrid cars in the latest example of China’s rising manufacturing and design heft in the electric vehicle (EV) sector…Dongfeng Honda Automobile, a 50-50 joint venture between the Japanese company and its Chinese partner Dongfeng Motor Group, said on Tuesday that hundreds of CR-V hybrids and pure electric e:NS1s had begun their voyage from Shanghai to Zeebrugge, Belgium, on May 15…The cars are expected to reach the Belgian port in late June before being delivered to European countries including the UK, Iceland, Greece and Portugal.

Ride-hailing platform Uber Technologies is stepping up its efforts to go green in India by introducing more electric vehicles, partnering with fleet operators, boosting financing options and giving its users the option to hire electric vehicles while booking their ride…As part of the launch of Uber Green in June, it will add 25,000 electric cars on its platform in partnership with fleet providers like Lithium, Everest and Moove, the company said on Wednesday…Besides, it will roll out 10,000 electric two-wheelers in Delhi by 2024 along with Zypp Electric, another EV start-up.

The world’s fastest-growing lithium producer says it could soon gain access to the US market…Argentina has been lobbying to get in on President Joe Biden’s electric-vehicle drive. Landmark climate legislation, called the Inflation Reduction Act, features tax credits for vehicles that have a portion of their battery metals sourced in the US or a free-trade-agreement country. Australia and Chile, the top two lithium suppliers, have FTAs with the US. Argentina doesn’t…Officials in Buenos Aires have been working on the issue with US diplomats and believe they are close to getting Argentina an exemption, Fernanda Avila, the federal mining undersecretary, and Franco Mignacco, president of top industry group Caem, said Tuesday on the sidelines of an event in the Argentine capital…Argentina’s push comes amid a global tug of war for key EV minerals between the US and China.

The Democratic Republic of Congo aims to boost its stake in a cobalt and copper joint venture with Chinese firms to 70% from 32%, on concerns the deal gives away too much of Congo's resources with little benefit to the country…The plan to boost Congo's stake and have greater control in managing the Sicomines venture - currently dominated by the Chinese firms - was detailed in a document seen by Reuters, that outlined Congo's demands ahead of talks to overhaul a $6 billion infrastructure-for-minerals agreement…The lopsided pact, Congo says, leaves it little means to control the operations of the venture, and the resources and revenue that are leaving the country…Two members of the commission, who were not authorised to speak publicly, confirmed the authenticity of the document and the conclusions, which have not been reported before…The sources said the conclusions would serve as the basis for Congo's talks with the Chinese companies…The commission said Congo should seek a greater share in Sicomines because the 2008 agreement did not take account of an estimated $90.9 billion worth of reserves that Gecamines brought to the deal, according to the document seen by Reuters…Sinohydro Corp and China Railway Group Limited had agreed to build roads and hospitals in exchange for a 68% stake in Sicomines, the cobalt and copper joint venture with Congo's state mining company Gecamines…Congo is the world's largest producer of battery material cobalt, and a major copper producer…The commission said Congo should seek a 60% stake in Sicomines for Gecamines and its subsidiary, a non-dilutable 10% stake for the state, and 30% for the Chinese companies, to make the joint venture deal fairer for Congo…It said the amount earmarked in the previous deal to finance infrastructure, around $3 billion including interests, was insufficient compared with the value of mineral reserves given up by Gecamines…"We estimated that the loan envelope for infrastructure should increase from $3 billion to $6 billion," one of the sources said…"We are going to ask for a lump sum compensation of $2 billion, among other things because Sicomines sold the minerals at half price to the Chinese companies ... well below the market price," the source said, adding that the fine will be for all damages Congo has suffered…"It is estimated that 90% of the Congo's mining exports go to China, but its contribution to GDP does not exceed 30%," said Jean-Pierre Okenda, director of extractive industries for Resource Matters, an NGO which is calling for greater transparency in the negotiations.