(LiveMint)
India is working towards increasing its trade and investments in the South East Asian region, especially in the hydrocarbon sector, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Wednesday.Speaking at a conference on India-Asean strategic partnership and the Act East policy, the minister said that India was in talks with Indonesia for partnering in its oil refining industry and liquified natural gas (LNG) industries. The move, the minister said, was part of New Delhi’s efforts to step up ties with the Asean region, a rich source of crude oil and natural gas for India.
Pradhan said state-owned oil marketing firms were in the process of enhancing their retailing business in the region, adding that India had recently dispatched its first shipment of diesel to Myanmar. Asean, India’s fourth largest trading partner, accounts for more than 10% of the country’s total trade. Foreign direct investment flows into India from this block between April 2007 and March 2015 touched $32 billion, the minister said.
