BAGHDAD: Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid held talks with senior Iraqi officials yesterday as New Delhi, Baghdad’s biggest buyer of oil, pushes for greater energy security as it looks to ensure sustained economic growth.
Khurshid met with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari and Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki, and was due to speak to Deputy Prime Minister responsible for energy affairs Hussein Al Shahristani over a range of topics, but securing critical oil supplies for Asia’s third largest economy was at the top of the agenda.
“In India’s growth story, we need energy security and Iraq is intrinsic to India’s strategic positioning for purposes of energy security,” Khurshid said on the first visit to Iraq by an Indian foreign minister since 1990.
Asked if ties with Iraq had taken on renewed urgency as India looks to reduce its dependency on oil from Iran, which has been hit by sanctions tied to its controversial nuclear programme, Khurshid replied: “That would be a very Machiavellian and a calculating way of looking at it.”
But he acknowledged that “those are all relevant factors”.
In a joint news conference with Khurshid, Zebari said “India is the largest buyer of Iraqi oil in the world, and this need is continually increasing.”
“The (Iraqi) government reassured the Indian side that Iraq will meet India’s demand (for energy), even in future,” he added.
Iraq, which currently exports around 2.6 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil, is looking to dramatically boost its energy output in the coming years, with officials aiming for an overall production capacity of nine million bpd by 2017.
Baghdad is almost entirely dependent on oil sales for income, and while efforts to boost energy production have resulted in a significant increase in output, steps to diversify the country’s economy have sputtered.
Khurshid said his visit also concentrated on boosting trade between India and Iraq, particularly in pharmaceuticals, infrastructure, agriculture and oil exploration.
AFP
