No US pressure on Iran gas pipeline: Murli Deora

03 May 2007

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New Delhi: Union petroleum minister Murli Deora today told the Lok Sabha that there was no pressure on Indian either from the US or any other country on the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project.

He told the house that India was going ahead with discussions on the pipeline project with Iran and Pakistan on the 2135-km-long pipeline that is expected to cost $7 billion dollars.

Deora said the government was also pursuing import of natural gas from Iran in national interest in order to meet energy requirements.

Deora said though there were American legal requirements under the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act of 1996, " he said the joint working group between India and Pakistan had been meeting regularly and had last met in February.

The technical sub-group also met in March and discussed transit fee and transportation cost. These meetings would continue, the minister said.

In a letter to prime minister Manmohan Singh, key Democratic and Republican congressmen yesterday warned that India''s ties with Iran have "significant potential" to harm the US-India relations and final approval for the nuclear deal.

In a letter, they urged Singh to provide assurances "that India will cease illicit procurement activities in the US, sever military cooperation with Iran and terminate participation in the development of Iran''s energy sector," which could trigger US sanctions.

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