India and the IEA: Friends with benefits?

Expanding the global energy body membership to include India is crucial for ensuring global energy security

The International Energy Agency (IEA) agreeing to start discussions with India on joining the organisation as a full member is a significant and positive step for both parties. India had formally sent a request for full membership last October and the 31 member countries at the IEA’s 50th Anniversary events earlier in February announced that negotiations will now begin. This would be the first country outside the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) club to get full membership of the IEA, reflecting the increasingly larger share of non-OECD countries in global energy consumption since 2007.

Given that much of the