NEW DELHI, Feb 20: India will bypass Pakistan as it pursues a multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline project with Iran, Petroleum Minister Ram Naik said.

Mr Naik said the pipeline from Iran to India would bypass Pakistan by going through the sea. He said he would travel to Iran within three months to discuss the deal.

“We have not spoken to Pakistan on this and we are not going to talk to them,” Naik told parliament.

“We have to buy from Iran; there is no proposal to get it overland. It can come through the sea route,” he said.

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami pressed for progress on the pipeline deal during a visit to New Delhi last month. India imports most of the oil and gas required for its billion-plus population.

Discussions on the pipeline — estimated to cost 3.5 billion dollars — began in 1994, but progress has been slow due to tensions between Pakistan and India and the project’s high price tag.

Mr Naik declined to set a timeline for the pipeline’s completion, saying estimates were still being drafted in collaboration with Iranian officials. —AFP