Full steam ahead on Iran gas via Pak

[DuctapeFatwa]

External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh has asked Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar to start talks with his Pakistani counterpart on the proposed Iran-India natural gas pipeline.

The rider is that a dialogue on an onland gas pipeline through Pakistan would be contingent on Islamabad agreeing to an oil product pipeline from India to Pakistan. ‘‘We could recommend to Pakistan that we discuss the setting up of the pipeline from Panipat to Pakistan in the context of our discussions on the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline since this would conform to the agreement by both sides to look at these issues in the larger context of expanding trade and economic relations between India and Pakistan,’’ Natwar Singh advised Aiyar last week.

Singh said that in the interim, Islamabad would have to agree to buy diesel from India supplied through tankers. In the MEA’s view, the product pipeline between India and Pakistan could be taken up once the quantum of diesel export reaches a substantial volume.

On his part, Aiyar has initiated the process with a letter to Pakistan’s Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Amanullah Khan Jadoon, seeking time for bilateral discussions on the gas pipeline. Khan has been asked to select the venue in India or Pakistan and the dates in the hope that the two ‘‘might meet before the end of the year’’.

http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=57651