US keen on India to join IEA

"We think it is increasingly important to have some of the most important economies and energy consumers such as India more deeply involved in the IEA," US Assistant Secretary (Bureau of Economic, Energy and Business Affairs) Daniel Sullivan told reporters here.

He said India and China have been invited to participate in an emergency response exercise next month and "a logical step beyond that would be consideration of the membership".

The membership of the IEA, he said, would be beneficial to India with regard to developing energy policy and managing strategic reserves.

Deeper cooperation, the US official said "would be a win-win for the organisation, the US, India and China."

Sullivan, who arrived here from China, met senior officials in several ministries including External Affairs, Finance, Commerce, Power and New and Renewable Energy.

During his meetings with Indian officials, he also discussed the recently released WTO texts on industry and agriculture.

About the US response to these new texts, Sullivan said the government was studying the documents.

Attributing the high crude prices to rapid increase in demand witnessed in the last couple of years, he said the way to deal with the problem is through energy efficiency and diversification of energy sources.

The price controls, Sullivan said, could have unintended consequences.