ISLAMABAD, 29 April 2006 — Iranian Deputy Petroleum Minister Nejad Hosseinian held talks with Pakistani officials yesterday on a multibillion-dollar Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project as the nuclear standoff between Tehran and the US lingered on.

Hosseinian, who is heading a team of petroleum experts, discussed with his Pakistani counterpart gas pricing and other technical modalities on the first day of talks. Pakistan and India are keen to import gas from Iran through a 2,670-kilometer pipeline from the Paras gas field.

He told reporters at the conclusion of talks yesterday that this was a very important project for both Pakistan and India.

“They (Pakistan and India) will have to import crude oil in huge quantities in coming years to meet their growing energy needs if they fail to materialize the project,” he added.

Pakistan’s total crude oil requirement is about 240,000 barrels per day. Of this, around 177,000 barrels are imported and the rest is produced locally.

Pakistan imports about 110,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Saudi Arabia, around 45,000 barrels per day from Dubai, 15,000 barrels from Qatar and 6,000 barrels from Iran.

Hosseinian said that the two sides would also finalize details of the forthcoming ministerial meeting between the two countries at Teheran in June. Pakistani Petroleum Secretary Dr. Ahmad Waqar told reporters that there is no question of India withdrawing from the project in the wake of reported US pressure, saying, such reports are speculative.

The proposed pipeline has become a test case not only for the three countries involved but also for the United States, which opposes dealings with Tehran because of its defiance on its nuclear program, which Washington and Europe fear it is using to develop nuclear weapons.

However, India and Pakistan, both with rapidly growing energy demands, seemed determined to go ahead with the more than $7 billion pipeline project.

President Pervez Musharraf reiterated his determination on Thursday during an address to a business delegation from neighboring China.

“Pakistan would not take a decision on the tri-nation gas pipeline project under any external pressure,” he said.

The pipeline was first proposed in 1994 but failed to make progress because of tensions between Pakistan and India. But with an improvement in ties between the neighbors since the beginning of a peace dialogue in February 2004, there has been a progress on the pipeline project too.