Ignoring pressure from the United States to scuttle it, India and Iran on Saturday decided to go ahead with the proposed $7.4 billion gas pipeline project to supply much-needed natural gas through Pakistan. They will sign a framework agreement by December this year.
"If all goes well, there can be a tripartite meeting of the concerned ministers of India, Iran and Pakistan to finalise a framework agreement by December 31," External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh said, after holding wide-ranging talks with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki during his three-day visit.
Singh said a preliminary framework accord for the pipeline to supply natural gas to India could be made ready by November this year. This will be a key step in making the project viable.
In another major deal, Singh said Tehran has agreed to supply five million metric tonnes of liquid natural gas to India annually. India had asked for 7.5 million tonnes of natural gas supply.
On the US opposition to the pipeline project, which was mooted during the visit of then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Iran in April 2000, India had made it clear that it was a purely bilateral one based on commercial considerations and it would not bow to any international pressure.
Washington, which is opposing the sale of oil by Iran, has said that the money coming from sale of gas to India could be used for other purposes by Tehran, including on its nuclear programme.
Keen to carry forward the ambitious project, Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar had visited Tehran in June this year during which the two sides decided to set up a joint working group to study all aspects of the project.
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