NEW DELHI, Feb 12: A senior Iranian official has said that China is keen to join the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline and if New Delhi does not take a decision soon then Beijing would replace New Delhi in the deal.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mohammad Ali Hosseini, who is on a visit to New Delhi, “said in an unambiguous statement that there is limited time left for India to take a decision on the gas pipeline,” according to rediff.com web news agency.

Mr Hosseini said: “Expedite the decision-making process to finalise the gas deal. We don’t have a lot of time.”

Asked how long Iran was ready to wait for India to take a decision on the gas pipeline, Mr Hosseini was quoted as saying: “There is a hope to expedite the process by all three countries...China is also applying pressure and wants to join the project.”