India's claim in South China Sea further polarises rows
Hooman Peimani considers its determination to protect oil interests
The ownership disputes over South China Sea islands with potential reserves of oil and gas took a new turn last week as India joined the stakeholders. Indian Navy Chief Admiral D.K. Joshi announced his force's preparedness to deploy vessels to the area to protect his nation's oil interests.
India's state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp has a stake in an offshore gas field off Vietnam's southern coast.
In his announcement, Admiral Joshi was careful to avoid provoking China as he pointed out that India was not a party to the ownership dispute. Yet, he made it clear India would act to protect its interests in the area should the need arise.
As a large emerging economy with a growing gross domestic product of some US$1.85 trillion, India has large and growing energy requirements dominated by oil, gas and coal, despite its efforts to increase the share of renewables and nuclear in its energy mix.
Its growing demand for fossil fuels cannot be fully met by its depleting reserves, which makes it increasingly reliant on imported oil and gas. Concerned about its energy security, India has sought to diversify and thereby increase its suppliers.
Thus it has been motivated to enter many energy-rich regions, including areas affected by conflict, such as East Africa (South Sudan) and the South China Sea (Vietnam).