Russia and India should collaborate in energy security for the Global South – expert

New Delhi also needs to fast-track its thorium program, Robindra Nath Sachdev has told RT India

Russia and India should boost their collaboration on energy security to support the Global South’s requirements, foreign affairs expert Robindra Nath Sachdev has told RT India.

US President Donald Trump has urged allies facing high fuel prices to get their “own oil” from the Strait of Hormuz amid the US-Israeli war on Iran. Restoring free shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is not among Washington’s military objectives, and it expects other nations to tackle the issue, US officials have said.

“The way I take a message from this entire crisis is that India should wake up and should get real. We depend upon imported crude oil, imported energy, imported LPG, and imported coal – even for our electric plants,” Sachdev told RT India.

He said there was a need for great cooperation between Russia and India.

“India should fast-track its thorium program. I mean, on the entire spectrum of energy, let us see where we are. Let’s get real,” he said.

India’s organic energy capacity should be boosted, he added.

“We have the world’s largest reserves of thorium. We have the most advanced technology program in Thorium. We’ve not been able to convert it into industrial grade so far,” he said, blaming bureaucratic and scientific delays.

Sachdev said India and Russia could collaborate and develop the technology.

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This can be bundled for India’s energy security, he said, adding, “this bundle of technology and raw material can be sold, provided to the countries of the Global South.”

India can avoid geopolitical and supply chain risks by shifting to a thorium-based cycle to fuel its nuclear reactors, analysts have said.

This would pave the way for the Global South to get genuine energy security from a balanced source like India, Sachdev said.

He added that it’s time for the rest of the world to wake up, diversify, and not be dependent on just one source of energy.