India woos Central Asia to secure energy supplies

India plans to build bridges with Central Asian oil producers to secure energy supplies, but analysts said Asia’s third-largest oil consumer would take years to match rival China’s success in oil diplomacy.

India’s oil minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar, has invited top government officials from Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkey and Azerbaijan for a day-long meeting on Friday with Asia’s top oil importers: China, Japan, India and South Korea.