Manmohan Singh, India’s prime minister, has entered the fray to resolve the standoff between UK-listed Cairn Energy and its state-owned partner, Oil and Natural Gas Corp, over the $9.6bn sale of oilfields in Rajasthan.

According to the prime minister’s office, Mr Singh held discussions with S. Jaipal Reddy, the new petroleum minister, before the latter’s meeting on Tuesday with Sir Bill Gammell, chairman of Cairn Energy, in a bid to break a lengthy deadlock that has threatened one of India’s largest corporate deals,