'Tehran senses that the Modi government is inexorably gravitating toward the US-Israeli-Saudi axis, jettisoning India's traditional independent Gulf policies,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
GAIL has already been appointed as the nodal agency for the pipeline in India.
Clearing the decks for the $7-billion Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project, the Pakistan government on Tuesday approved the gas sharing arrangement with New Delhi.
With New Delhi boycotting formal talks for almost three years, Iran and Pakistan this month signed last of a series of agreements for implementing the project on bilateral basis.
India maintains that it wants to be part of the project but cannot go ahead till its concerns with regard to security and issues related to pricing of gas are addressed.
India will host the next meeting on the 1,680-km gas pipeline, planned from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan and Pakistan to India, in October even as it has asked Tehran to call a trilateral meeting to finalise the rival Iran-Pakistan-India gas line.
Projects worth over $20 billion, ranging from the decade-long Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline to various oil and gas exploration and production projects, are being re-considered, said officials in the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
India has asked Pakistan to waive the $200 million transit fee a year for allowing passage of a pipeline carrying natural gas from Iran.
Pakistan has said it is eager to transfer Iranain gas to India and China after it finalised the text of a multi-billion IPI gas pipeline project with Tehran. Mokhtar Ahmad, advisor to Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, made the remarks after the three-day Iran-Pakistan talks on the $7.4 billion pipeline project, which resulted in finalisation of the text over the weekend in the absence of India, which is the third partner.
Ignoring objections from the US, India on Monday said it will go ahead with the proposed gas pipeline project with Iran.
Speaking at a programme in Kolkata on Tuesday night, he said that in the past, even the US has been appreciative of the fact that the Chabahar port has a larger relevance.
The crises of the 21st century, 9/11, the economic meltdown, COVID-19, Russia-Iran war and the Hamas-Israel war seem to be never ending. In this situation, Iran might be contemplating a nuclear deterrent to defend itself, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, the distinguished long-time Rediff contributor who turns 80 on June 17..
There is no question of the US or any other country pressurising India on the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project, Lok Sabha was informed on Thursday.
Replaying to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, Deora said there are some outstanding issues including finalization of the gas price with Iran.
The over $7 billion Iran- Pakistan-India gas pipeline project has been found to be technically feasible but its economic viability will depend on the price at which Tehran sells the fuel, the Centre said on Tuesday.
The uncertainty over $7 billion Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline plan has prompted India to look at the Turkmenistan-Pakistan-Afghanistan pipeline project to meet its growing energy requirements
India on Monday said it will meet Pakistan next week to resolve issues, such as transit fee, impeding progress on the over $7 billion Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project, even as it gets formally inducted in a rival line from Turkmenistan.
Iran's proposal to transform the $7.4 billion Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project to an Iran-Pakistan-China (IPC) project is nothing more than an "empty threat", according to Indian officials, who say the move is fraught with technical and financial challenges.
India and Pakistan on Tuesday reported good progress in talks on finalising framework and a timetable for building the $4.16 billion Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline.
Singh, the joint secretary heading the division for Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran in the ministry of external affairs, held talks with Taliban's foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi on Thursday.
India was fully on board and committed to take part in the $7 billion Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project, a senior official said.
The inking of the commercial contract to build and run the strategic port will help India win access to Afghanistan, Russia and Europe
In a joint declaration issued after the 16th BRICS Summit in the Russian city of Kazan attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, among others, the leaders reiterated unequivocal condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations while reaffirming that it should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilisation or ethnic group.
Pakistan wanted to be constitutionally communal, India wanted to be secular but is communalising itself. All three nations share a penal code, but they have amended their laws to enable the State to specifically target minorities, points out Aakar Patel.
India and Pakistan will appoint financial consultants to suggest project structure for the $4.16 billion Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline by September 15.
Pakistan-India bilateral relations remained frozen for the fourth year over the vexed Kashmir issue but analysts hope the strained ties could be repaired if Nawaz Sharif becomes the prime minister for a record fourth time in the general elections in February in the absence of his main challenger Imran Khan who is in jail in multiple cases.
Hassan Rouhani to offer Friday prayers in Hyderabad's Mecca Masjid.
India, Pakistan agree on gas transport price.
The US wants India to be converted into a military base to facilitate refuelling for its planes and recreation for the soldiers engaged in the Iraq war, Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member and Rajya Sabha MP Brinda Karat said.
Pakistan, India and Iran are likely to meet in March next year to carry forward the negotiations on the tri-nation gas pipeline, even as the issue of gas pricing remains to be addressed.
Murli Deora has expressed optimism over the IPI gas pipeline project, confirming that talks are on with both Iran and Pakistan to finalise the project.
Sunil Chhetri stirred up emotions in his final international outing but the Indian football team just could not rise to the occasion as it settled for a goalless draw against Kuwait.
Whatever be India's course of action, it will have an impact on India-Iran ties, notes Aveek Sen.
A day after Dhaka was liberated on December 16, 1971, then US President Richard Nixon was told by his strategic advisor Henry Kissinger that he had 'saved West Pakistan,' according to confidential papers since declassified by the US department of state.
With Modi's international image seriously damaged -- perhaps, irrecoverably -- and Indian foreign policy finding itself in drift, we move on to the New Year in a depressing scenario, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Delhi has come to accept the Taliban takeover in Kabul as a reality and seems increasingly unsure of its dogmatic view of the Taliban as a mere proxy of the Pakistani military and security establishment, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The trilateral alliance between India, Afghanistan and Iran on the strategic Chabahar port is a security threat to Pakistan, defence experts in Islamabad have said and asked the government to use diplomatic manoeuvres to avert falling into an "abyss of isolation".
Exports of high-quality basmati rice from India grew by 22 per cent to $5.2 billion during April 2023-February 2024, amid robust demand, primarily from West Asia. According to data compiled by the commerce department, exports of basmati rice increased to 4.68 million metric tonnes (MMT) in April-February, from 4.1 MMT during the same period a year ago, registering a growth of 14 per cent.
India is one of the few countries in the region that enjoys good relations with both Israel and Saudi Arabia, and IMEC would allow it to recreate the old Spice Route to Europe. All this is in jeopardy now, notes Rajeev Srinivasan.
The port is likely to ramp up trade between India, Afghanistan and Iran in the wake of Pakistan denying transit access to New Delhi for trade with the two countries.
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