| Publication |
2011.
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| Summary/Abstract |
The demand for energy in Bangladesh and India have been increasing due to rapid urbanization, industrialization, rising incomes, and growing use of energy-intensive products. Bangladesh faces extraordinary challenges in the energy sector. It has substantial economically recoverable natural gas reserves. But its energy mix is highly dependent on gas. The government of Bangladesh has prepared a proposal to set up a nuclear power plant and has decided to install wind-based independent power plants in offshore areas. On the other hand, India also faces a formidable challenge in meeting its energy needs and providing adequate and affordable energy to all sections of society in a sustainable manner. India's energy concerns established a new dynamism when the Indian government decided to explore and execute transportation of natural gas through proposed pipelines such as Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline project, Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline project and Myanmar-Bangladesh-India pipeline project. But the proposed Myanmar-Bangladesh-India pipeline project was withheld during the period of 2001-2006 due to political mismatch between Bangladesh and India. However, there are several other scopes which can be explored in terms of energy security cooperation on bilateral and multilateral basis. The Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina and the Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh agreed in a joint communiqué in New Delhi on 13 January 2010 to put in place a comprehensive framework of cooperation for development between the two countries, encapsulating their mutually shared vision for the future, which includes cooperation in energy, among others.
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