A New Era of US-Indian Energy Cooperation?

President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s reaffirmation of their commitment to energy cooperation during this weekend’s state visit to India highlights the special position India occupies in energy geopolitics. Among the world’s leading consumers of energy (as of today, the US, China, Russia, Japan and India, in that order), India has for the past several years successfully managed to align with China and the developing world in global negotiations, while leveraging its position as a regional balance to China to secure a series of civil nuclear agreements that promise to help the country sustain its dramatic growth (which registered 7 to 8 percent annually even through the global economic downturn). This week’s GR Energy and Climate Brief, timed to coincide with President Obama’s visit, assesses India’s energy choices and previews the geopolitical implications of the country’s rapid growth, rising energy demand, and the potential for the emergence of a more substantial energy cooperation with the US.

Looking Further Afield

India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Singh, has found itself in direct competition with China in its pursuit of global energy resources.  In 2004, for example, a Chinese company outbid an Indian one to buy 50 percent of the BP-operated Block 18 in Angola. 

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