Puri's clarification came after Gandhi claimed that the Union minister's name has also figured in 'Epstein Files' released in the US.
Malayala Manorama resident editor, Amit Mathew has been elected executive board member of the Vienna-based International Press Institute.
India was fully on board and committed to take part in the $7 billion Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project, a senior official said.
India is keen to partner the proposed multi-billion Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project and has promised to resist "all external pressures on the issue", Iranian oil minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said.India's petroleum minister Murli Deora is set to arrive in Pakistan on April 21 to hold talks on transit fee to be paid to Islamabad on the $7 billion IPI project.
India and Pakistan will soon finalise the bilateral tariff and transit fee issues for the $7 billion Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project. Technical teams of both countries will meet in Islamabad during April 16-18 to firm up recommendations to be discussed by the petroleum ministers of Pakistan and India at their meeting in Islamabad on April 23.
Iran, Pakistan and India are expected to hold a meeting in Tehran later this month to push the $7.4-billion IPI gas pipeline project that had been delayed after being caught in wrangling over transit fee.
Notwithstanding US reservations over the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, the World Bank has described it as a win-win deal and expressed readiness to fund the $7 billion project.
India on Friday expressed confidence that the work on the proposed $7-billion Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project would start by March next year as it is hopeful of finalising a transit fee agreement with Islamabad before that. India is confident of starting the 2775 km long IPI project by end of March 2008, M S Srinivasan, secretary, ministry of petroleum and natural gas, told reporters in Coimbatore.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora would visit Pakistan early next month to sort out differences over transit fee for the $7 billion Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline.
Pakistan and Iran are close to finalising a gas purchase agreement for the $7.4 billion (About Rs 29,200 crore) IPI pipeline during technical talks in Islamabad, even as officials said India's decision not to take part in the talks did not mean it had pulled out of the trilateral project.
Iran last week said it will by October-end sign a pact with Pakistan to sell gas through a bilateral pipeline in the absence of India joining the Iran-Pakistan-India gas line.
External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on Saturday embarked on a four-day visit to Iran during which its controversial nuclear energy programme and the proposed IPI gas pipeline project are expected to figure prominently in the bilateral talks.
Away from the courtroom and legal circles, Nariman was a familiar figure for residents of Hauz Khas who would see him walk regularly, even in the cold winter months of December and January.
"We need to make sure that the Iran pipleline project is economically viable. This project has a life of 40 years," Menon tol the media in Delhi. Menon confirmed that India was trying to re-negotiate the Liquefied Natural Gas project with Iran. The deal was first made in 2005, but India feels there could be renegotiation.
Iran had called a meeting of technical experts and lawyers from the three nations during September 24-26 to exchange views on the gas-supply contract that India and Pakistan, as consumers, would have to sign with fuel supplier Iran.
After a two-year lull, India has proposed to resume talks with Iran on importing gas through a pipeline passing through Pakistan, but the Persian Gulf state wants the meeting to happen in Tehran.
The second International Press Institute India Award for 'Outstanding Work in Journalism 2004' has been awarded to New Delhi Television channel for its investigative journalism work during the year 2003.
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.
"We are also very much aware of the proposal to explore the possibility of extending and transporting natural gas. We do not know the details. We do not know whether it is feasible or not. But once issues are clearer... We will study that carefully and very seriously," Chinese Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs He Yafei told a delegation of SAARC journalists.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may have used a mix of charm and roguish coercion to let India know that he expected the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline proposal to become a reality in 45 days. But India is in no hurry to take a decision, a top Cabinet minister in the United Progressive Alliance government said. The volatile political environment in Iran and Pakistan has as much weightage now and the UPA government is becoming more reluctant.
Iran had called a meeting of technical experts and lawyers from the three nations during September 24-26 to exchange views on the gas-supply contract that India and Pakistan, as consumers, would have to sign with fuel supplier Iran.
India and Pakistan today began final round of discussions to resolve differences on the 7.4-billion dollar Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline before the three nations sign a deal next month.
Trilateral talks between India, Iran and Pakistan to discuss the project and framework agreement of their $7 billion transnational pipeline project would be held in Tehran next week.
Iran said it hoped all aspects of a $7-billion pipeline to transport natural gas from the country to Pakistan and India would be finalised in next two months.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora met Iran's Deputy Minister for International Affairs H Noghrehkar Shirazi on the sidelines of the 12th International Energy Forum here to propose bilateral talks in May.
In a new twist to negotiations on the much-delayed Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline, Tehran wants legal immunity in case of armed conflict disrupting natural gas supplies through the proposed line.
India has missed yet another meeting on the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline last weekend as officials from Iran and Pakistan met in Teheran to discuss the revised project cost and a new pricing formula.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora after a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Gholam Hosein Nozari for talks on the $7.5 billion Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline project said there were 'some minor problems' which have been sorted out.
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.
Pakistan will also engage an international consultancy firm to conduct a feasibility study on its section of the project. The firm will carry out a feasibility study within Pakistan's borders and submit a report by the first quarter of next year, Dawn News channel reported on Thursday. Pakistan and Iran recently held two-day technical-level talks here on the gas purchase agreement and other legal aspects of the project.
Ignoring objections from the US, India on Monday said it will go ahead with the proposed gas pipeline project with Iran.
Iran on Tuesday indicated that it may be willing to change the delivery point of gas it wants to sell to India through a pipeline passing through Pakistan, but wanted New Delhi and Islamabad to decide quickly on the $7.4 billion project.
India's decision to join the Turkmenistan pipeline project which is more hazardous than the Iranian channel is puzzling.
"The Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project is one of the most important economic projects in the region, which will bring extensive benefits for the three countries," Ambassador Mashallah Shakeri said. Pointing out that the measures taken by Pakistan and Iran showed their "firm will" for executing the project, Shakeri told a local news agency that the bilateral agreement between the two countries will be finalised by January 25.
Pakistan and Iran are holding three-day talks in Islamabad on the multi-billion dollar Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project though India is not participating in the parleys as differences on some key issues remain to be settled.
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.
The Indian government, said a senior official, wishes to take talks forward on the $7 billion Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project.
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.
India has asked Pakistan to waive the $200 million transit fee a year for allowing passage of a pipeline carrying natural gas from Iran.
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.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances