'China would not like India to gain access to C Asian gas'

China would not like India to gain access to Central Asian gas through the TAPI pipeline as the two countries have conflicting interests over the natural resource in that region, US lawmakers have been told.
"I think that that's fair to assume," Edward Chow, Senior Fellow in the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Energy and National Security Programme said during a Congressional hearing when asked by Congressman Dana Rohrabacher if China would not like India to gain access to the Central Asian gas.
"It (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline) is a very challenging project. I have worked in this industry for quite a long time. The fundamental economics are there. Whether, politically and in terms of security it's achievable or not, we will have to find out," said Chow, who currently advises the Department of State on TAPI Gas Pipeline.

"You're saying it's a challenging project, but it's not challenging engineering-wise, is it? The challenge has to do with political decisions and political stability within Afghanistan and that region," Rohrabacher said during a Congressional hearing.
"India would certainly have an important -- let's say be an important customer for that oil, but at the same time wouldn't that be something the Chinese would not want to have developed?" he said during a Congressional hearing.
The great powers of that region, India and China, have conflicting interests over what to do with that natural resource, Rohrabacher said.

China has focused on pipeline development from Central Asia, including an oil pipeline from western Kazakhstan and gas pipelines from Turkmenistan through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to China, Chow said.

China has replaced Russia as the largest importer of Turkmen gas and this volume is slated to double or triple in the coming years.
The next growing source of competition for Central Asia oil and gas is likely to come from India, which closely follows China in growth in oil and gas demand and consequently oil and gas imports, Chow said.
Indeed, as Chinese demographic growth slows and population ages, India's energy demand is commonly forecasted to grow faster than China's in a decade or so.
Although it is better located than China to receive oil and gas from the Persian Gulf, India too would like to diversify its oil and gas imports, including the Central Asian supply, he said.

"This explains Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) of India's recent forays into projects in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan as well as the interest of Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) in the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) Gas Pipeline," Chow said.
In the case of TAPI, the interests of these countries also coincides with our interests in the economic integration of Afghanistan into Central and South Asia, regional stability, and better relations between Pakistan and its neighbours, he added.
Rohrabacher said China is currently engaged in an aggressive campaign to control global energy supply chains and to protect its monopoly in rare earth elements.