E. A. Sagaidak IPI and TAPI Pipeline Projects as an Attempt at Reducing Energy Dependency of India

Abstract: This article touches upon a number of problematic aspects related to India’s energy dependency and the inter-state interaction between the countries of the South Asian region. Two pipeline projects are discussed: Iran-Pakistan-India and Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India as well as the difficulties associated with their implementation, both of economic and political nature. The author pays special attention to the impact on the construction of the above pipelines made by the two largest players in the modern system of international relations – China and the USA. The chronological method is used for identifying the specific features of changes to Indian foreign and domestic policy aimed at procuring both its own energy security. Situation analysis makes it possible to recreate certain events in the development of the regional security problem and the attempts at settling the conflicts based on documentary sources and periodicals. Systematic method is the approach to considering the problem as a complex dynamic, comprehensive and integral phenomenon on the basis of the analysis of the interdependence of all the elements both individually and in their combination. Comparative method allows tracing the specific features of relationships between the countries of this region and their partner countries and the countries which are potential threats to their safety in general. The scientific novelty of this research lies in the author’s attempt at evaluating the main directions of the developments in the relationships between the countries in the South Asian region from the point of view of India’s energy security. In light of the latest events in the system of international relations and the growing role of energy resources as a valid leverage for influence, the importance of this research is growing. The conclusions made by the author are as follows: 1. The necessity for the Indian political elite to implement a multidirectional approach to the problem of the country’s energy security. 2. The growing role of the USA and China as non-regional players immediately affecting the participants of the IPI and TAPI pipeline projects. 3. The possibility for the positions of Moscow and Beijing as well as of Moscow and New Deli to move closer to each other in the matters related to the future “energy dialogue”. 4. The necessity to take into consideration the growing role of China in South Asia and its ability to block or hinder the implementation of energy projects that India needs.

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