Pakistan to secure Iran's gas pipeline to India

[joeblow]

Pakistan to secure Iran's gas pipeline to India
Sun, 24 Jan 2010 15:24:24 GMT

http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=1 ... =351020103



Iranian officials have announced that Iran would only supply India with natural gas through Pakistani territory, under the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline project.

The Head of the National Iranian Gas Export Company says Pakistan has agreed to secure the transfer of Iran's exporting gas to India via its soil.

"According to a gas deal signed between the two countries, Islamabad will be responsible for the transfer operations of Iran's exporting gas in Pakistan's territory," Reza Kasaeizadeh told semi-official Mehr News Agency on Sunday.

He added that based on the deal Pakistan will secure Iran's gas transfer to India.

The initial agreement of the 2,700 kilometer-long pipeline, also known as the Peace Pipeline, was signed in Tehran in May 2009 between the Iranian and Pakistani presidents.

Around 1,100 kilometers of the pipeline would be built in Iran, while the remaining 1,000 kilometers would be installed in Pakistan.

Kasaeizadeh said that according to the normal procedures, Iran is supposed to deliver the gas to the Iran-Pakistan border, and then Pakistan would transfer the export to any potential customer.

Earlier, in September 2009, Kasaeizadeh had said that India is also in need of Iran's gas and that Tehran has no problem in signing gas deals with them.

India wants the delivery point of its gas imports from Iran to be on the Pakistan-India border.

The pipeline was originally proposed in 1995, but after almost 13 years of negotiations India decided to step back last year.

Indian officials have cited security issues and the viability of the pipeline, which would pass through the territory of its Pakistani rival, where an internal war is raging between government forces and the pro-Taliban militants.

MVZ/MB