NEW DELHI, May 27: India said on Thursday that it would consider any increase in the domestic prices of petroleum products only after a June 3 meeting of Opec ministers in Beirut.

Indian Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Mani Shanker Aiyar also said that India, Pakistan and South Africa were jointly pressing Opec as an impromptu lobby to seek a lowering of the current prices.

The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) had come to office on the pledge of "economic reforms with a human face", Mr Aiyer told a public meeting. He said this pledge has been translated into policy in the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of alliance released by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairman Sonia Gandhi on Thursday.

"It is my task as minister to ensure in my sector of responsibility the continuation of the reforms process while demonstratively ensuring sensitivity to the human consequences of decisions taken in the name of reforms," Mr Aiyar said.

The UPA's arrival has been greeted by a relentless rise in international crude prices. Brent reached $39.36 per barrel while WTI touched $41.77 per barrel a few days back.

This places a tremendous strain on the economies of all countries, developing and developed, but perhaps most of all on India, he said. Nearly 70 per cent of India's oil requirements are met from imports.

India has been voicing its concerns in various international forums. Mr Aiyar said that during the International Energy Forum meeting at Amsterdam earlier this week, India had voiced its concerns at the extremely high prices of crude oil.

He said India understood the Opec concerns over the political situation in the Middle East that could be affecting the episode of high prices. "We have, therefore, decided to take a decision in this matter when Opec oil ministers meet in Beirut on June 3.

The decisions they take will show whether the recent steep rise in international oil prices is aberrant and transitory," he said. It would also indicate whether at least for countries like India, greater stability at more moderate prices is the more likely immediate prospect.