India-Arab League Energy Cooperation Launched

India-Arab League energy cooperation launched

(UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 10th Jun, 2021) New Delhi, 10th June, 2021 (WAM) – India and the League of Arab States have decided to pursue wide-ranging cooperation in the field of energy through enhanced oil recovery, tight gas extraction, intra-regional power trading and collaboration in hydrocarbons.

These are some of the outcomes of a two-day virtual meeting of the Arab-India Energy Forum, which concluded yesterday. This was the first meeting of the Forum, set up at a plurilateral meeting of senior officials dealing with Arab-India Cooperation held via video conference in January this year.

India and Morocco co-chaired this pioneering meeting. R K Singh, India’s Minister of State for Power and Renewable Energy, along with Aziz Rabbah, Minister of Energy, Mines and Environment of Morocco, jointly addressed the opening session of the Forum. Dr Kamal Hasan Ali, Assistant Secretary General for Economic Affairs of the Arab League, also spoke at the inaugural session.

"Plenary sessions explored the potential and challenges of cooperation in the fields of energy transition and nuclear power generation," according to a readout of the event by the Indian government. "The panelists were drawn from a wide range of public and private sector institutions from India and the Arab League member states as also regional organisations such as the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) and the Arab Atomic Energy Agency (AAEA)."

There were also discussions on the respective national regulatory policies, investment opportunities, research and development as well as joint training possibilities. "Even as India and several Arab League member states strive to transition towards clean and green energy economies, their reliance on hydrocarbons will likely continue in the near future," the readout quoted the consensus at the Forum.