ISLAMABAD, 23 May 2006 — India joined talks yesterday for the multibillion dollar gas pipeline project that on completion will transport Iranian gas to Pakistan and India.
Iranian Deputy Petroleum Minister Nejad Hosseinian and Pakistan’s Secretary for Petroleum and Natural Resources Ahmad Waqar discussed on Sunday pricing, technical and legal aspects of the project as well as its structure and feasibility.
Indian Secretary of Petroleum and Natural Gas M.S. Srinivasa, who arrived here yesterday, told journalists before talks the project would benefit all the three countries. He was optimistic that the price issue would be resolved through negotiation.
Officials at the tripartite talks did not divulge the details of the negotiations yesterday. They are scheduled to address a press conference today.
But a statement issued after the talks yesterday said: “The three countries discussed in detail technical and financial aspects of the 2,670-kilometer-long Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project on the first day of their trilateral joint working group meeting.”
Ahmad Waqar, M.S. Srinivasan and Nejad Hosseinian led their respective delegations at the talks, held ahead of the trilateral ministerial level meeting scheduled for June in Tehran.
The proposed pipeline has become a test case not only for Iran, Pakistan and India, but also for the United States.
Pakistani officials say the IPI project will take three to four years to be completed after the three countries strike a final deal.
Meanwhile, Hosseinian told the Iranian state television talks between Iran and Pakistan resulted in an agreement on construction terms.
“The structure of the pipeline has been decided on. It was agreed that each country is responsible for the part of the pipeline which is on its own soil.”
The cost of the pipeline project has been estimated at $7 billion.
“The two sides also considered the issues of gas sales, purchase, pricing, project structuring and feasibility study of the project,” the Iranian minister said.
The United States objects to the project and is pushing for another pipeline to South Asian countries from Turkmenistan via Afghanistan. Washington accuses Tehran of supporting terrorism and attempting to make a nuclear bomb.
But Pakistani authorities have said Islamabad would go ahead with the Iranian pipeline project as it needs energy to fuel its high economic growth, which is forecast at 6.0-6.6 percent for the year to June 2006.
