A new competition between India and China is heating up, over African diamonds, the Financial Times reports:
Indian diamond cutters and polishers are lobbying the government in New Delhi to combat Chinese efforts to secure rough diamonds from Africa by providing the continent’s nations with medicines and resources to build infrastructure.
The Indian diamond industry leads the world in cutting and polishing the precious stones and says China is locking up the supply of rough diamonds by direct deals with African governments.
The scramble for African diamonds reflects intensifying competition between the world’s fastest-growing large economies for natural resources, particularly energy, minerals and land.
China wants to develop a competitive cutting and polishing industry as domestic demand for diamonds expands. Indian executives see this as the biggest threat to their country’s 60 per cent share of the sector worldwide.
