- International Affairs
- Key Countries / Regions
- Determining America's Role in the World
The opportunity for future Indo-US cooperation in the energy sector goes beyond current geopolitical concerns on oil trade. It includes potential for expanded trade in oil, oil products, and liquefied natural gas to meet India’s growing demand. Recent reforms in India also open the door to expanded cooperation on civil nuclear power. If carefully managed, these areas could become a mutually beneficial element of the long-term commercial and diplomatic relationship between the two countries.
Key Takeaways
- With careful management, energy can become mutually beneficial and substantive element of the long-term commercial and diplomatic relationship between India and the United States.
- The crisis in the Middle East in the wake of US-Israeli strikes on Iran in early 2026 has underlined the need for India to reduce dependence upon Persian Gulf oil by diversifying to other sources.
- The high rate growth of India’s GDP, its import dependency, and its push for a cleaner environment create a market for US liquefied natural gas (LNG). Imported LNG from the United States will have to be competitive in price with imports from other LNG suppliers globally.
- India has set an ambitious goal to increase its nuclear power capacity more than tenfold—from the current 8.2 gigawatts (GW) to 100 GW by 2047. Its recent regulatory reforms under the SHANTI Act open scope for new Indo-US collaboration, both in the building of new nuclear power plants in India using US designs, and in the development of India-based nuclear supply chains.
India-US Cooperation in the Energy Sector by Hoover Institution
Cite this report:
Amb. D. P. Srivastava, “India-US Cooperation in the Energy Sector,” Commentaries on Energy as a Pillar of the US-India Relationship series, Hoover Institution, June 2026.
