Is the struggle between China and India a struggle to secure their energy needs?

India will need to import the bulk of its fuel for this decade and the next. In another four years, India is expected to become the world’s largest coal importer, overtaking Japan, the European Union and China.

The Chinese attempts to dominate the South China Sea is, from the Indian standpoint, far more than a territorial issue. Taken with the increasing number of threats where the Chinese and Indian navies have come up against each other — from the Bay of Bengal all the way to the coast of Japan — these reflect a struggle between the two nations to secure their energy needs, says an article in the Swarajya Magazine.

The article also quotes Brookings India report on “Future of Coal – 2020“, which says “imports cannot be wished away”.

The article also quotes Brookings India Fellow Rahul Tongia: “Non-power imports of coal are not expected to end any time soon — we do not have prime coking coal — are we then targeting an unrealistic objective of eliminating imports?”

You can read the full Swarajya Mag article here.