India, Iraq ink energy cooperation pact
India’s quest for energy security has got a major fillip with the inking of a pact with Iraq that will enable it to work in tandem with the oil-rich country in the fields of oil exploration, petrochemical complexes and natural gas.
The two countries signed four MoUs here on Friday, including one on energy cooperation, during the ongoing state visit of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Among the other MoUs is one that will allow bilateral cooperation in the development and management of water resources. It’s an area where the war-ravaged country has sought India’s assistance.
The other two MoUs allow for senior diplomats of the two countries to maintain contact on bilateral and international matters and exchange information on training programmes for diplomats.
In a clear indication of the thrust the two countries hope to give to their ties in the energy sector, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that he and PM Maliki “have agreed that our energy trading relationship should be turned into a strategic partnership”.
Importantly, the MoU on energy cooperation also envisages the conclusion of a contract for exploration of Block-8 that was awarded to ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) hanging fire for long. The decision to work towards concluding the contract pending for 13 long years marks a significant step forward for India.
Though Block-8 was awarded in 2000 during Saddam Hussein’s regime, the contract could not be finalised for over a decade as the government in power following the country’s invasion by Iraq wanted to renegotiate it.
An indication of the upward trajectory of energy ties between the two countries also came in the joint statement issued upon the conclusion of Mr Maliki’s meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday.
It took note of the “rapidly-growing bilateral trade in the oil and energy sector with Iraq becoming India’s second largest supplier of crude oil”. Iraq has become India’s second largest supplier of crude after Saudi Arabia. It displaced Iran, from whom India has been forced to cut its oil imports in view of the sanctions imposed on it.
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