IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/jadint/v24y2020i2p216-246.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Energy Geopolitics and Pipeline Diplomacy in Central Asia: India’s Interests and Policy Options

Author

Listed:
  • Ramakrushna Pradhan

Abstract

The global energy scenario is undergoing a tectonic shift in recent times. While energy security has been emerging as one of the cornerstones of the foreign policy of major countries, a new geological survey has the promise of new discoveries and reserves untapped. One such epic new frontier of the world geological survey has been the post-Soviet Central Asia consisting of five “Stans†of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan, along with the Caspian Sea region. Sitting on huge untapped hydrocarbon potentials, the Central Asian geographical entity in recent years has offered enormous opportunity and appeal for countries adjacent to the region and far beyond. That is perhaps the reason that even after the disintegration of the USSR, the geopolitical importance of Central Asia has never waned down, instead it emerged as a grand chessboard for regional and extra-regional players for the immense opportunities it offered for the energy-crunch countries as potentially new and non-OPEC source of oil and natural gas. In the quest for energy security and diversity of supply sources by energy consumers, the heartland has witnessed a new great game in the scramble for resources. This accentuated struggle for oil and energy in the region has further led to aggressive foreign policy formulations and strategic calculation by countries such as the United States, China, the European Union, Japan, Israel, Iran, Pakistan, and India, to which many now call “the New Great Game†for not just controlling but administering energy resources of the region. The bottom line of the New Great Game, unlike the previous version, is essentially played out around petropolitics and pipeline diplomacy. To support the scramble for energy in Central Asia and the aggressive petropolitics and pipeline diplomacy by major powers, the study adopts the peak oil theory of Club of Rome thesis to understand the global tectonic shift of energy frontiers. Further, this article attempts to examine the position of India in Central Asia and its policy initiatives in the epic quest for oil and energy in the traditional bastion of Russia and the new grand chessboard of China and the United States.

Suggested Citation

  • Ramakrushna Pradhan, 2020. "Energy Geopolitics and Pipeline Diplomacy in Central Asia: India’s Interests and Policy Options," Jadavpur Journal of International Relations, , vol. 24(2), pages 216-246, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jadint:v:24:y:2020:i:2:p:216-246
    DOI: 10.1177/0973598420943434
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0973598420943434
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0973598420943434?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dorian, James P., 2006. "Central Asia: A major emerging energy player in the 21st century," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 544-555, March.
    2. Ramakrushna Pradhan, 2019. "Petropolitics and Pipeline Diplomacy in Central Asia: Can India Afford to Wait in the Wings?," India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs, , vol. 75(4), pages 472-489, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hiroyuki Taguchi & Aktamov Asomiddin, 2022. "Energy-Use Inefficiency and Policy Governance in Central Asian Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-15, February.
    2. Liu, Yang & Wang, Jianda & Dong, Kangyin & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad, 2023. "How does natural resource abundance affect green total factor productivity in the era of green finance? Global evidence," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    3. Bahtiyor R. ESHCHANOV & Mona Grinwis Plaat STULTJES & Ruzumboy A. ESHCHANOV & Sanaatbek K. SALAEV, 2011. "People’s Perceptions on Renewable Energy Sources Penetration Prospects in the Khorezm Province, Uzbekistan," Journal of Knowledge Management, Economics and Information Technology, ScientificPapers.org, vol. 1(7), pages 1-26, December.
    4. Junxia, Liu, 2019. "Investments in the energy sector of Central Asia: Corruption risk and policy implications," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    5. Marina Tsygankova, 2008. "Netback pricing as a remedy for the Russian gas deficit," Discussion Papers 554, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    6. Tavana, Madjid & Pirdashti, Mohsen & Kennedy, Dennis T. & Belaud, Jean-Pierre & Behzadian, Majid, 2012. "A hybrid Delphi-SWOT paradigm for oil and gas pipeline strategic planning in Caspian Sea basin," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 345-360.
    7. Taguchi, Hiroyuki, 2022. "Energy use inefficiency and policy governance: the case of Central Asian countries," MPRA Paper 111932, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Thavasi, V. & Ramakrishna, S., 2009. "Asia energy mixes from socio-economic and environmental perspectives," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(11), pages 4240-4250, November.
    9. Haojun Xia & Huimei Zhang & Jiafan Zhang, 2023. "Research on Damage Mechanism and Mechanical Characteristics of Coal Rock under Water Immersion," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-18, August.
    10. Zijie Yang & Dong Huang & Yuqing Zhao & Wenqian Wang, 2022. "A Bibliometric Review of Energy Related International Investment Based on an Evolutionary Perspective," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-21, May.
    11. Bilgin, Mert, 2007. "New prospects in the political economy of inner-Caspian hydrocarbons and western energy corridor through Turkey," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 6383-6394, December.
    12. Lixian Wang & Xi Chen & Anming Bao & Xiaoyun Zhang & Miao Wu & Yun Hao & Jingjing He, 2015. "A bibliometric analysis of research on Central Asia during 1990–2014," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 105(2), pages 1223-1237, November.
    13. Rasoulinezhad, Ehsan & Sung, Jinsok & Talipova, Amina & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad, 2022. "Analyzing energy trade policy in Central Asia using the intercountry trade force approach," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 441-454.
    14. Otrachshenko, Vladimir & Hartwell, Christopher A. & Popova, Olga, 2023. "Energy efficiency, market competition, and quality certification: Lessons from Central Asia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    15. Fei Wang & Changjian Wang & Jing Chen & Zeng Li & Ling Li, 2020. "Examining the determinants of energy-related carbon emissions in Central Asia: country-level LMDI and EKC analysis during different phases," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(8), pages 7743-7769, December.
    16. Brkic, Dejan, 2009. "Serbian gas sector in the spotlight of oil and gas agreement with Russia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 1925-1938, May.
    17. Assel K. Kozhakhmetova & Kenzhebek T. Gabdullin & Duissekul A. Kunanbayeva & Samal K. Tazhiyeva & Renata E. Kydaybergenova, 2019. "Green Energy Project`s Efficiency: A Cross-industry Evaluation," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 9(5), pages 207-215.
    18. Yanwen Wang & Song Hong & Yifei Wang & Xi Gong & Chao He & Zhendong Lu & F. Benjamin Zhan, 2019. "What is the difference in global research on Central Asia before and after the collapse of the USSR: a bibliometric analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 119(2), pages 909-930, May.
    19. Aliya Aktymbayeva & Arailym Orazgaliyeva & Aizhan Omarova & Anvar Tulaganov & Aigul Akhmetova & Yuliya Tyurina & Marija Troyanskaya, 2021. "The Central Asian Economies of Water-energy security: The Future Role of Hydro and Fuel-based Systems," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 11(1), pages 417-425.
    20. Bahrami, Arian & Teimourian, Amir & Okoye, Chiemeka Onyeka & Khosravi, Nima, 2019. "Assessing the feasibility of wind energy as a power source in Turkmenistan; a major opportunity for Central Asia's energy market," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 415-427.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:jadint:v:24:y:2020:i:2:p:216-246. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.