India's Oil Energy Security from Africa: Responsible Power and Development Partnership Approach

Energy security is a great concern for India. It imports a very large quantity of energy material, especially petroleum crude oil from outside. This makes India dependent on the oil exporting countries. Due to this India has been vulnerable to international oil politics. Despite this vulnerability and dependency India has pursued its policies as responsible power and did not resort to coercive politics or cheap methods and tricks to fulfill its oil needs. Indian approach has a distinct quality as it differs from the hard power or soft power approach of some powerful countries especially United States of America. It is also different from the approach of China in Africa. The present paper studies India's management of its oil needs from Africa by its responsible power and development partnership approach.