US-India strategic energy partnership ignites a new hope

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New Delhi: Rick Perry, US Secretary of Energy was in town to co-chair the inaugural meeting of the US-India Strategic Energy Partnership with India’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan. The meeting which took place here today saw the Indian and US counterparts coming together on a common platform to explore possibilities for bilateral trade in oil and gas, power, renewable energy and coal.

Thus, the first meeting of the US-India Strategic Energy Partnership ended on a fruitful note.

US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in last June announced this partnership at Washington D.C., and India had inked a pact to jointly work towards enhancing energy security, expanding energy and innovation linkages across energy sectors and facilitate increased industry and stakeholder engagement in energy sector.

Dharmendra Pradhan announced that USA and India will primarily focus on four areas: oil and gas, power and energy efficiency, renewable energy and sustainable growth, and coal. Both parties may even consider working in other areas based on a mutual agreement later.

Reflecting on possibilities of nuclear energy Perry said that nuclear energy has an important role to play in civilian needs and to meet the global demand for a cleaner energy India and US will work to implement the 2008 agreement for cooperation concerning peaceful usage of nuclear energy.

At the meeting India and USA re-affirmed to an early and full implementation of the civil nuclear partnership including work on the Westinghouse civil nuclear project in Kovvada.