News

    NEW DELHI: With India staying out of
the ‘peace pipeline’, Pakistan and Iran have gone ahead and signed
the $7.5-billion pipeline deal. The  

Inter-State Gas
Systems, a semi-autonomous
Pakistani company, signed the pipeline deal with the National Iranian
Oil
Company. According to reports, the two sides signed the agreement and an
operational accord in Istanbul.

However, the option of India joining
the pipeline at some stage was kept open by Pakistan and Iran.
Pakistan’s
petroleum and natural resources minister Syed Naveed Qamar was quoted as
saying
that though India is not a part of the deal at present, the agreement
keeps the
option of transporting gas for India through Pakistani territory if the
pipeline
eventually does extend to India. Pakistan has retained the right to
charge
transit fee for gas transported to India.

The Indian decision to stay
away from the project at present is based on security concerns and also
on the
price of the gas that would be delivered from Iran through Pakistan to
India.
Iran and India could not agree on the point of delivery of the gas,
while India
and Pakistan were unable to agree on the transit fees.

The growing
instability in ... >>>