India mulls joining IP gas project

Ever increasing energy needs have compelled India to rejoin the transnational pipeline emanating from Iran and transiting Pakistan thus reviving IPI Gas Project, Online learnt on Sunday. A well-placed Indian diplomat told Online that his government was actively contemplating to look back on the option of IPI. He claimed that India had never abandoned the project, officially. “It was just gone down on the priority list mainly due to security concerns in Pakistan,” he added. Earlier India had practically abandoned Iran-Pakistan-India Gas Pipeline project for obvious reasons of entering into a nuclear deal with US. After India disembarked the trilateral mechanism for IPI, the pipeline was naturally left as only Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline. According to the diplomat, the announcement to give effect to the rejuvenation of IPI was expected during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Pakistan in the near future. Premier Singh had accepted President Asif Ali Zardari’s invitation on Sunday to visit Pakistan on mutually convenient dates. “We are an energy-deficient country and to sustain our high growth rate and ensure energy security, we need energy from every possible source,” the diplomat observed. A Pakistani official privy to the Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline project pointed out that the latest Indian overtures on IPI could be just bluffs again to appease Iran. Iranians have realized that India went out of IPI due to the pressure from US and was anxiously pursuing the American backed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) project. Iran has also gone on record saying that it was no longer holding talks with India on IPI pipeline but has signed a bilateral accord with Pakistan on the project. Under the deal finalized in March last year, Iran will supply 750 million cubic feet of gas daily to Pakistan by 2014. Indian diplomats however tried to dispel the impression that Washington had been exerting pressure on India not to pursue the IPI pipeline project in view of Iran’s controversial nuclear programme. Important issues concerning the IPI project, such as gas pricing, delivery point of gas, project structure, transportation tariff payment, transit fee for the passage of natural gas through Pakistan and security of supply, had still not been sorted out, he added. “Once our concerns are addressed satisfactorily, we will have no hesitation in going ahead with the project,” he maintained.

nimss