NEW DELHI, Jan 13: India may not participate in the joint building of a seven-billion-dollar gas pipeline from Iran via Pakistan, fearing a hostile reaction from the United States, a report said on Friday.
India may instead opt to buy gas from Iran at the Indian border, the Press Trust of India reported, quoting unnamed officials in the petroleum ministry.
Plans to build the pipeline have sparked sharp opposition from Washington which accuses Iran of seeking nuclear arms and being a state sponsor of terror.
Earlier this month, the US said it was “absolutely opposed” to the pipeline.
Under its Iran-Libya Sanctions Act, Washington has barred US companies from investing in Iran’s oil and gas industry.
It has said foreign companies investing over 25 million dollars in the sector would be denied business opportunities in the United States.
Last month India held talks with Iran — which has the world’s second-biggest natural gas reserves — to review progress of the tri-nation agreement.
The two countries, along with Pakistan, have said they hope to conclude a deal by June 2006.
India has said previously that construction of the pipeline should start in 2007 and be operational by 2011.
The report said that the ministry will suggest to the cabinet that the setting up of an international consortium to build and operate the pipeline may not take off because of political and legal action by the US.—AFP
