NEW DELHI, March 10: The United States has reminded India about its concerns over Iran, as New Delhi prepares for talks on a $4 billion pipeline to bring Iranian natural gas to South Asia, a newspaper said on Thursday.
US ambassador to New Delhi David Mulford told India’s Oil Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar in a meeting that Washington faced serious difficulties with Iran because of its nuclear programme, and there appeared no immediate solution, the Indian Express said.
“Washington has officially conveyed to New Delhi that the Bush administration continues to have serious concerns on Tehran and can’t foresee how events there will shape up,” it said.
The newspaper said it was the first time the United States had formally conveyed its reservations about the long-running proposal to build the pipeline that will go through Pakistan.
There was no immediate comment from either the US embassy or the Indian government on the newspaper report.
The newspaper said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will likely reiterate her concerns over Iran to Indian and Pakistan leaders during her first tour of the region next week.
The ambitious pipeline project was stalled for years, mainly because of differences between India and Pakistan, and concern in New Delhi that its energy supplies could be held hostage to Islamabad if tensions rose.
But the nuclear neighbours have revived talks over the pipeline since they began a cautious peace process more than a year ago.
Mr Aiyar said on Wednesday that he planned to hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart on the gas pipeline that will help meet India’s huge energy demand.
India barely produces half the gas it needs and imports 70 percent of its crude oil requirements. Pakistan, which has been quite keen on the project, will earn millions of dollars in transit fees from the “peace pipeline.”
But the Indian Express said Washington had told Islamabad it did not favour the plan to import gas from Iran, which held the world’s second-biggest proven gas reserves, after Russia at the end of 2003.
Though Mr Mulford had said he appreciated New Delhi’s interest in the pipeline project, “he felt it was his duty to highlight US concerns on Iran,” the paper said.
Mr Mulford had said that Washington was facing serious difficulties with Iran on its nuclear weapons programme with no immediate solution in sight to ending the impasse, the report said.
Washington’s concerns were likely to be raised again when US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits India on March 16, it added.
Tri-partite talks between India, Pakistan and Iran on the planned gas pipeline are to be held in Islamabad soon, with Aiyar expected to travel to Pakistan for the meeting.
Negotiations for the pipeline began in 1994 but little head-
way was made because of tensions between Pakistan and India.—Reuters/AFP
