Iran, India to discuss extension of IP gas pipeline next week

Iranian and Indian oil ministers are due to discuss extension of a gas pipeline project which is due to take Iran’s rich gas reserves to Pakistan and then to India in a meeting in New Delhi next week.

Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qassemi is stated to visit New Delhi next week to hold a meeting with Indian Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Veerappa Moily on the peace pipeline.

Pricing formula and security of the pipeline will stand atop the topics to be discussed by the two ministers.

Earlier this month, Iranian Oil Ministry Spokesman Alireza Nikzad Rahbar announced that New Delhi has renewed interest in the extension of Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline to India.

“Since India has been motivated by Pakistan’s seriousness in construction of the (Iran-Pakistan) peace pipeline, New Delhi is negotiating to join the project,” Nikzad Rahbar said.

The Iranian official noted that there had been considerable progress in the IP gas pipeline, with Iranian contractors starting work on the Pakistani section of the pipeline, after finishing nearly 900 kilometers of the pipeline on Iran’s soil.