NEW DELHI: India’s top ministers are visiting Gulf countries this week to secure energy supplies, amid a mounting gas crunch due to the US-Israeli war on Iran.
India imports around 60 percent of its liquefied petroleum gas, making it the world’s second-largest LPG importer. The South Asian nation relies heavily on the Gulf region, particularly Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, to provide cooking gas for its population of 1.4 billion.
With the closure of the Strait of Hormuz meaning India’s LPG supply has dwindled, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar began a two-day visit to the UAE on Saturday to meet with Emirati officials, while Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri concluded his trip to Qatar on Friday.
“Our ministers are visiting Gulf countries to strengthen energy security,” Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a press briefing.
A statement from the Petroleum and Gas Ministry said the government has been taking measures to “ensure uninterrupted availability of petroleum products and LPG amid the ongoing developments” affecting the Strait of Hormuz.
After his meetings in Doha, Puri said that Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, had reaffirmed his country’s “commitment to remain a reliable energy supplier” for India.
They also discussed the two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran agreed on April 8 and highlighted “the importance of an early end to disruption in global energy supplies and restoration of normalcy.”
As India also imports about 85 percent of its crude oil, around 30 percent of which transits through the Strait of Hormuz, the government is also discussing its broader energy needs with other countries, including the UAE.
“The disruptions in the strait have caused concerns in India and it would prefer to work with its GCC partners and other stakeholders to find an amicable solution as per international laws and norms,” Muddassir Quamar, associate professor at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, told Arab News. “Energy trade is an important component of India-UAE relations, including the role ADNOC (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) plays in India’s strategic reserve.”
Jaishankar’s UAE visit should be seen “within the context of India’s broader engagement with the region,” Quamar added, citing a virtual meeting between India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and his Bahraini counterpart Abdulla bin Adel Fakhro on Friday.
Aditya Ramanathan, a research fellow at the Takshashila Institution, told Arab News that Jaishankar’s trip also “provides a diplomatic signal” to the UAE and other countries in the region.
“It also allows for the two sides to have truly frank face-to-face discussions about the war,” he said.
“No doubt Jaishankar and his counterparts will share their most honest appraisals of the situation and discuss future courses of action.”
