<div><span style="line-height: 1.4;">India will get a major boost in its quest for greater access to hydrocarbons in Central Asia as it is all set to get full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO),comprising all major energy producing nations of the region and dominated by China and Russia.</span></div><div> </div><div>India, one of the largest energy consumers in the world, is keen to get the membership of the grouping as it will help it play a major role in the SCO energy club which was set up to create a unified energy market as well as to ensure cooperation among major oil and gas companies from the member nations.</div><div> </div><div>Three major suppliers of energy - Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan - have been playing crucial role in the SCO energy club and the Indian government feels getting membership of the bloc will give it greater access to a number of key energy projects in the region.</div><div> </div><div>Government sources said SCO membership will also help to make headway in the proposed pipeline project from Russia to India, being billed as one of the most ambitious initiatives in recent years in the energy sector in the region.</div><div> </div><div>India does not want the pipeline, which may cost over $40 billion, to enter India through Pakistan and may look for alternative route including through China.</div><div> </div><div>"The SCO membership will help India get a foothold in major energy projects involving Central Asian countries. It will ensure India's integration with the region," a top government official told PTI.</div><div> </div><div>India had formally applied for membership of SCO in its summit meeting in Dushanbe on September 12 where External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had said India was ready to step up engagement with the grouping.</div><div> </div><div>India is almost certain to get the SCO membership within a year as China has backed the move.</div><div> </div><div>India has been an observer at SCO since 2005 and has generally participated at the ministerial-level at summits of the grouping which focuses mainly on security and economic cooperation in the Eurasian space.</div><div> </div><div>India's key ally Russia has been favouring India's permanent SCO membership, saying the largest democracy joining the group will add weight to the organisation. Another major oil-producer Iran is also aspiring to become member of the SCO.</div><div> </div><div>SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the Presidents of Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India, Iran and Pakistan were admitted as observers at the 2005 Astana Summit.</div><div> </div><div>Last week, during his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping had supported India's bid for SCO membership.</div><div> </div><div>Officials said an SCO membership will help India address its growing energy needs. India has oil deals with Russia, Kazakhstan and was working on a gas deal with Turkmenistan.</div><div> </div><div>They said the SCO platform will also help speedy implementation of the TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan- Pakistan-India) gas pipeline project </div><div> </div><div>The nearly 1,800-km-long TAPI pipeline would originate from Turkmenistan and pass through Afghanistan and Pakistan before entering India.</div><div> </div><div>It will have a capacity to carry 90 million standard cubic metres of gas per day (mmscmd) for a 30-year period and scheduled to be operational in 2018. India and Pakistan would get 38 mmscmd each, while the remaining 14 mmscmd will be supplied to Afghanistan.</div><div> </div><div>Kazakhstan had recently offered ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) a stake in medium-sized Abai oil block in Caspian Sea.</div><div> </div><div>The Indian government is of the view that SCO membership will offer India more opportunities to work closely with China in certain areas including in Afghanistan.</div><div> </div><div>India also feels as SCO member, it will be able to play a major role in addressing the threat of terrorism in the region.</div><div> </div><div>India is also keen to deepen its security-related cooperation with the SCO and its Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS) which specifically deals issues relating to security and defence.</div><div> </div><div>(PTI)</div><div> </div>
