"With China having already cornered about 40 per cent of this country's hydrocarbon assets, India's assessment is that it can get a chunk of the remaining portion if New Delhi plays its political and diplomatic cards right," The Hindu writes.
Indian diplomats express hopes that the country will succeed. "India's decade-long quest for a bigger slice of the hydrocarbons pie in Central Asia got a leg up, thanks to a positive response from Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev," Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said after the meeting with Kazakhstan President last week.
The meeting with Khurshid mainly covered a stake in Kashagan oil field.
Kazakhstan President reminded the Indian delegation that India already received 25 percent in the Caspian block Satpayev without a tender.
Although China does not express any intention to buy a stake in Kashagan, Indian diplomats believe that "the indication" during the meetings with Kazakhstan President and Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrissov "in favor of India has been positive".
Tengrinews.kz
