Iran assures India on gas delivery

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:28:33 GMT
Tehran has assured New Delhi that it would secure the gas pipeline between Iran, Pakistan and India throughout the life of the pipeline.

According to Indian Express daily, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a letter that the country would seek a tri-partite mechanism to reach an agreement with the aim of securing the pipeline at Pakistan-India border.  Iranian Ministry was responding to a recent request by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, that supply security should be guaranteed to turn the pipeline into a confidence building measure.   The delivery of natural gas became a concern for New Delhi as Tehran had announced that it would supply the gas at the Iran-Pakistan border and would not be concerned about what happens next in Pakistan's territory.
The Daily Express wrote that the Iranian condition could give a free hand to Pakistan to close the pipeline in case of any conflict with India. The Indian newspaper added that a new tripartite agreement would mean that the responsibility would be on all three countries for home delivery of gas to India. 
The Daily Express said that Iran's promise includes intervening to encourage Pakistan to involve Indian and Iranian companies in the project and to make sure that deadlines are met.  The 2,775-kilometer gas pipeline will at the start transfer 60 million cubic meters of natural gas per day from Iran to India and Pakistan, with capacity set to eventually rise to 150 million cubic meters daily.

MVZ/RA SOURCE: PrssTV