India and Qatar have signed an initial pact for co-operation in the energy sector.

The objective of the memorandum of understanding is to establish a framework to facilitate and enhance bilateral co-operation in the sector, a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry here on Monday said.

It envisages co-operation in the areas of upstream (exploration) and downstream (refining) oil and gas activities.

India and Iran have agreed to enhance co-operation in the field of renewable energy. In a meeting with the Iran President, Mr Mehmoud Ahmadinejad, in Tehran on Monday, the Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy, Dr Farooq Abdullah, called for stepping up bilateral ties and economic cooperation with Iran, especially in the field of renewable energy.

Earlier in the day, Dr Abdullah met the Iranian Energy Minister, Mr Majid Namjou, according to release by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

Noting that economies of developing countries are impacted by climate change, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today pitched for greater cooperation between Asian and African countries to address short and long term challenges in this regard. “I believe that in the future we will need to tackle the short term and long term environmental challenges that our economies face,” Mr Singh said while addressing the inaugural function of Golden Jubilee Celebrations of Afro-Asian Rural Development Organisation here.

Bangladesh and United Kingdom on Sunday signed a five-year memorandum of understanding on collaboration in research and development in energy sector.

According to the MoU signed at Biddyut Bhavan in the capital, Bangladesh’s Power Division will jointly work with UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council on renewable energy, energy end-use technologies, research related to energy technologies, systems, services and policies and energy efficiency and conservation.

Nepal and India discussed on the issues related to cooperation on water resources along with agreeing to expedite the water and power projects at the first meeting of the Nepal- India Joint Ministerial Commission on Water Resources (JMCWR) held in New Delhi, India on February 15, 2012.

During the meeting, both sides agreed to expedite the setting up of Pancheshwar Development Authority (PDA) at the earliest for implementation of the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project.