India worried over Iran pipeline
Two days after Iran and Pakistan signed a US $ 7.5 billion gas pipeline deal, New Delhi said that it was yet to join the project due to genuine pricing and security concerns. India, however, was still in touch with Tehran and Islamabad and proposed a trilateral meet to sort out the issues.
“We are in consultation with the Government of Iran. We have certain concerns – concerns about pricing, concerns about security. We are taking up these issues with the Government of Iran,” External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said.
Petroleum Secretary S Sundareshan said that New Delhi had proposed trilateral technical level talks on the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project in Tehran next May. “We have genuine concerns that need to be addressed before we sign up for the pipeline,” said Sundareshan.
Pakistan and Iran signed operational agreements for the project in Turkish capital Istanbul on Tuesday. The Inter-State Gas Systems, a semi-autonomous Pakistani company, signed the pipeline deal with the National Iranian Oil Company.
Islamabad and Tehran had earlier inked an agreement for bilateral cooperation during Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari’s visit to Iran in May last year. The deal struck on Tuesday paves the way for laying the long-pending natural gas pipeline from hydrocarbon-rich Iran to Pakistan. The pipeline was originally envisaged to extend up to India.
Safe delivery a concern
But New Delhi has been staying away from the talks since 2008, as its concern over safe delivery of gas from Iran to India through Pakistan was not addressed by Islamabad and Tehran. The post 26/11 diplomatic chill between India and Pakistan cast a shadow too.
New Delhi wants Iran to be responsible for safe passage of natural gas through Pakistan to India. It wants to pay for the gas only when it reaches Pakistan-India border. But Iran and Pakistan are in favour of a trilateral mechanism that provides for all the three countries being involved in ensuring safe transportation of gas. India will have to pay for the gas even if supply is disrupted in Pakistan, if the mechanism is accepted.
