ISLAMABAD, Nov 7: India has formally asked Pakistan to import diesel from Gujarat and Haryana to Pakistan through land and sea routes by removing the product from "negative list of permissible imports from India".
The import of diesel from India and the possibility of laying a trans-Pakistan multi-billion dollar gas pipeline have been made part of agenda of proposed first-ever talks between oil and gas ministers of the two countries, Dawn has learnt.
Islamabad has convened an inter-ministerial meeting here on Monday for preparatory work and finalization of its strategy for the oil ministers' talks which are likely to be held before the end of the current month. Both the ministers have invited each other for talks but the dates, and venue are yet to be finalized.
The inter-ministerial meeting will be presided over by Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Amanullah Khan Jadoon. Secretaries and representatives of the ministries of foreign affairs, petroleum and interior, security agencies and other relevant government departments will attend the meeting.
Foreign office sources told Dawn on Sunday that Indian Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Mani Shankar Aiyar has written two letters in a week to his Pakistani counterpart about the proposed talks. Pakistan has also invited Indian oil minister to visit Islamabad for the talks.
New Delhi has informed that it has surplus refining capacity available in both public and private sectors near borders with Pakistan in the states of Gujarat (Jamnagar) and Haryana (Panipat). Moreover, Indian Oil Corporation has a major depot at Jalandhar.
India says that supplies of diesel can be made to Karachi by sea and from Jamnagar and by tankers from Jalandhar to Lahore. However, at present diesel is included in Pakistan's negative list of permissible imports from India.
The Indian authorities believe that if Pakistan considers importing a part of its diesel requirements from India, its transportation costs would be considerably lower than from alternative West Asian points of origin.
India has also offered to send a separate delegation of technical authorities to negotiate commercial terms if Pakistan agrees to delete diesel from the negative list.
The Indian oil minister said he was willing to hold talks on diesel trade and gas pipeline project in India, Pakistan or elsewhere. He has also shown his availability for talks in the months of November and December except Tuesdays and Thursdays when he is required to answer questions in the parliament during the winter session that begins from Dec 1 to 24.
This will be first time for the oil ministers of the two countries to engage in direct consultations on the question of laying of over $2 billion gas pipeline most probably from Iran to India which is often described as 'peace pipeline'.
The possibility of gas pipeline from Iran via Pakistan to India gained momentum after a meeting between President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of 59th UN General Assembly session in New York on Sept 24, 2004.
Both the leaders had felt that such a project would contribute to the welfare and prosperity of the people of both the countries.
Pakistan is expected to earn over $500 million annually as transit fee besides required gas quantities, India will be the real beneficiary as the gas supply will meet its rising fuel requirement while Iran will be able to sell reasonable gas quantities on a permanent basis for decades.
Foreign ministers of Pakistan and India had discussed all aspects of the pipeline in New Delhi on Sept 6 last and had agreed that the oil and gas ministers should meet to discuss the issue in its 'multifarious dimensions'.
