India hopes to seal Iran gas pipeline deal in July

23 June 2008

Mumbai: Oil ministers from India, Pakistan and Iran are likely to hold their first trilateral meeting in a year to get the stalled $7.4 billion tri-nation gas pipeline project moving.

Petroleum minister Murli Deora who met his Iranian counterpart Gholam Hosein Nozari on the sidelines of a meeting of oil producers and consumers in Jeddah yesterday, has agreed to a trilateral meeting in Tehran next month to resolve the differences.

"The trilateral meeting of oil ministers of the three countries is most likely to take place in Tehran next month," petroleum secretary M S Srinivasan said.

He said, New Delhi had earlier written to Iran to hold a trilateral meeting to resolve outstanding issues.

India wanted Iran to give delivery of the gas at the Indian border to reduce transit risk, Srinivasan said, adding that bilateral gas transit issue with Pakistan has been settled when Deora visited Islamabad in April.

''Bilateral issues have more or less been resolved", and Srinivasan expects Pakistan to support India's stand on the delivery point for the gas.