Aiyar favours Hindi Chini bhai bhai in oil

Pre-bid dialogues and demarcating projects among state-run companies is Mani Shankar Aiyar’s mantra for increasing cooperation between ...

Pre-bid dialogues and demarcating projects among state-run companies is Mani Shankar Aiyar’s mantra for increasing cooperation between India and China in the hydrocarbon sector.

‘‘The world’s two largest oil importers, which compete and cooperate in different countries, would benefit more if they could pool their resources to maximise returns from the efforts being made by them separately at home and abroad’’, says a concept paper prepared by the petroleum ministry.

It says the Sino-Indian competition to secure equity oil merely increases the asking price — to the detriment of both sides. ‘‘Consultations between our companies would ensure that we understand each other’s requirements and attempt to develop opportunities, which would be beneficial to both of us,’’ it says.

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The option suggested is that Indian and Chinese companies ‘‘pre-determine between them the blocks in which they are interested in a specific country to avoid competing with each other to the extent possible.

The paper also moots Aiyar’s proposal of extending the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline to the Southeast region of China.