India, Pakistan to discuss $3.5 Bln gas pipeline
Pakistan Times Business & Commerce Desk

NEW DELHI (India): India and Pakistan will discuss the safety of a proposed 3.5 billion pipeline designed to transfer gas from Iran to India through Pakistan, officials said.

Indian Oil Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar will meet Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri over lunch on Monday during his three-day visit to New Delhi.

"If our security concerns are adequately addressed, this project could turn out to be the economic bedrock which could buttress many more economic cooperation proposals," said an Indian foreign ministry official.

"The economic gains for Pakistan estimated at 600 to 800 million dollars annually in transit fee alone are a reasonable guarantee against sabotage," the official added.

Negotiations on the 1,600-kilometer (1,000-mile) pipeline began in 1994 but no headway was made due to tensions between Pakistan and India and the project's massive cost.

Officials said warming ties between India and Pakistan augured well for the project. For Iran, which holds the world's largest gas reserves after Russia, the Indian market is as important as the European market which it hopes to serve one day through a pipeline across Turkey.

India is a large importer of energy products, importing nearly 70 percent of its annual requirements. India's largest refiner, Indian Oil Corp. was also studying a proposal to export surplus diesel from India to Pakistan, said oil ministry officials.●