Japanese and Indian Energy Security towards Iran

Energy security is one of the relatively new terms in international relations literature which has become a subject of debate in recent years in academic and political circles. Efforts at achieving energy security not only enjoy a privileged place in the foreign policies of industrialized nations like Japan, but it has also entered the agendas of industrializing countries such as India. Both groups seek to provide the grounds for further safe and reliable access, to imported energy resources. Considering the energy security policies in the diplomatic apparatus of these two powerful Asian countries, this research intends to examine these policies towards Iran as one of the largest producers of crude oil in the world, which also possesses one of the globe’s biggest natural gas reserves. We will examine what approach these two Asian countries have adopted in order to attain their energy security through Iran in the past decades and what impacts this has left on their economic and diplomatic relations with Iran. The author will seek to illuminate the role the structure of the international system plays in shaping the energy security strategies and policies pursued by these two states.