Second India-US Strategic Energy Partnership Ministerial meeting to be held tomorrow

Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan will meet with US Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette on July 17 to co-chair the second India-US Strategic Energy Partnership (SEP) ministerial meeting through virtual meetings.

The ministerial SEP meeting will review the progress made since the first meeting and also take note of accomplishments and agree on priorities going forward in the energy sector.

In February 2018, India had elevated the India-US Energy Dialogue to a SEP.

The SEP was formally announced during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US in June 2017, and the first ministerial meeting was held in New Delhi on April 17, 2018 between Pradhan and the then US Secretary for Energy Rick Perry.

The SEP has four primary pillars of cooperation -- oil and gas; power and energy efficiency; renewable energy; and sustainable growth.

Through the SEP, the US and India collectively seek to enhance energy security, expand energy and innovation linkages across the respective energy sectors, bolster strategic alignment, and facilitate increased industry and stakeholder engagement in the energy sector.

The meeting, which was due to be held in Washington DC in April this year, got postponed due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

( With inputs from ANI )