WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- India says despite its skipping of talks with Iran and Pakistan on a gas pipeline, the project can become a reality if a price is agreed upon.
"I think if the price of the gas is agreed upon, the pipeline will become a reality," Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said in Washington.
Earlier this week India said it won’t take part in talks unless the issue of transit fees with Pakistan is first resolved.
Talks in Tehran involving technical experts and lawyers were due to run Monday through Wednesday on the $7.4 billion, 1,700-mile pipeline.
The pipeline would run from Iran to India via Pakistan and supply some 90 million cubic meters of Iranian gas to India and 60 million cubic meters to Pakistan every day. Talks have been stalled on that issue because of two factors: the price of Iranian gas and transit fees that India must pay to Pakistan.
"There is no politics. We wish to have a pipeline. ... And all three countries, to the best of my knowledge, are agreed in principle on the need and feasibility of the pipeline. What is still not resolved is the price of the gas," Chidambaram said.
His comments were reported by the semi-official Press Trust of India.
The future of the IPI pipeline is uncertain, however, because of strong U.S. opposition to the deal. Washington fears international agreements with Iran will only embolden the country to acquire nuclear weapons. Funding may also be difficult because of the countries the pipeline would traverse. Washington has said it backs a pipeline that supplies Turkmen gas to South Asia.
