NEW DELHI, Aug 6: An Indian delegation will head to China next week to explore ways to cooperate in acquiring foreign energy assets to meet the soaring fuel needs of their fast-growing economies.

A senior Indian diplomat attached to the oil ministry will lead the delegation to discuss opportunities for the two countries to cooperate in obtaining oil and gas assets, Hindu Businessline said.

The focus for cooperation by the world’s two most populous countries would include Central Asia, Africa and Latin America. The Indian diplomat, Talmiz Ahmad, said both India and China were concerned with achieving energy security, the newspaper quoted him as saying.

“We see in this similarity of approach possibilities of bilateral cooperation,” Talmiz Ahmad said. Both countries have been rushing to acquire energy assets abroad and are often seen as rivals. But energy analysts say it might make more sense for them to cooperate to gain economies of scale and negotiating muscle.

India’s Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar is due to visit China for five days in early November ‘to prepare the ground’, Mr Talmiz added. Media reports have quoted Indian Oil Secretary S.C. Tripathi as saying New Delhi wants to drop its competition with Beijing and join hands with it for oil and gas acquisition.

Beijing relies on foreign producers for one-third of its oil supplies and accounts for about seven per cent of world oil demand. China used 5.46 million barrels of oil a day in 2003. India imports nearly 70 per cent of its oil needs and last year consumed a little over two million barrels a day. A study has forecast that by 2025, India will consume 7.4 million barrels a day.—AFP