New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS) India Saturday sought greater energy cooperation, including the sale of LNG, with Brunei, the oil-rich southeast Asian state.
External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, who is on his first bilateral visit to Brunei, met its Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah at the Istana Nurul Iman Palace in Bendar Seri Begawan.
"During the discussions, Krishna outlined India's growing energy needs and sought greater long term energy cooperation, especially sales of LNG," the external affairs ministry said here.
"India hopes to further increase its imports of oil from Brunei as India's economic development gathers pace and energy needs grow," said the ministry.
The two sides also look for enhanced bilateral cooperation in the information technology and defence sectors.
Currently, India is the third largest importer of Brunei's oil after South Korea and Japan.
In his talks, Krishna also outlined a slew of reform measures taken by the Indian government, including recent further opening up of the airlines and insurance sectors for foreign investments.
Brunei, which is to take over the chairmanship of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), is also the country coordinator for ASEAN 's interactions with India.
On his part, Sultan Bolkiah, who has visited India twice, acknowledged excellent bilateral relations and said he was looking forward to visit India again to participate in the India-ASEAN Commemorative Summit, which will be held in New Delhi Dec 20-21.
Brunei, home to around 10,000 Indian nationals, is also the co-chair of the India-ASEAN Eminent Persons Group, which will submit a report to the leaders of the 10th ASEAN-India Summit in Phnom Penh in November.
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