Road open for India to join gas pipeline project: Iran Foreign Minister

Karachi News.Net
Tuesday 17th November, 2009

New Delhi, Nov 17: Visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Tuesday said that Iran and Pakistan had already started work on the gas pipeline, and road is open for India to join the project.

"I think India is desirous to join this project and we have started our implementation bilaterally with Pakistan, but definitely the road is open for joining of our Indian friends. That will be a reality, but any reality goes to its capacity. For the time being, the capacity of this pipeline can be very high, but I'm not sure for the future," Mottaki said during a seminar in the national capital.

Iran, Pakistan and India have discussed the pipeline for years. They have agreed in principle on a pricing formula, but India dropped out of talks in mid-2007, saying that it first wanted to resolve issues with Pakistan such as transit fees.

The 7.6 billion dollar project has been dubbed the "Pipeline for Peace and Progress" because of the mutual benefits it will bring to India and Pakistan.

The pipeline could initially transport 60 million cubic metres of gas (2.2 billion cubic feet) daily. The capacity would later rise to 150 million cubic metres.

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