India's oil minister and Guyana's president discussed have government to government co-operation in Guyana's hydrocarbons sector, the Indian government said in a statement on Thursday.

India will explore buying oil from Guyana in a long term deal and participating in the South American country's oil and gas exploration sector, the statement said.

India's Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri met Guyana's President Mohamed Irfaan Ali on Thursday. (Reporting by Nidhi Varma in New Delhi; Writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by Alison Williams)