'Peace pipeline' on fast track

By C. Raja Mohan

NEW DELHI, JUNE 12. The latest round of consultations between India and Iran have helped improve the prospects for transporting the abundant natural gas resources of the Persian Gulf to the Indian market through Pakistan.

An eventual decision to build such an overland pipeline, after the detailed joint project report is completed in the next few months, is likely to give a big political boost to the peace process between India and Pakistan.

Senior officials from India and Iran meeting here over the last couple of days agreed to put the preparatory work for an overland pipeline ``on a fast track'', informed sources here said. Meanwhile, the option to build a pipeline under water avoiding Pakistani territory would continue to be studied, the sources added.

The overland project, which enthusiasts call the ``peace pipeline'', should draw India and Pakistan closer into an energy partnership and break the current political barrier against commercial engagement between the two nations.

Signal to Pak.

Coming on the eve of Gen. Pervez Musharraf's visit, the positive Indian approach to an overland pipeline sends an important signal to Islamabad which is keen on getting the project going. Pakistan hopes to earn substantial amounts of hard currency from transit fee on the gas shipped overland to India.

Until recently India, citing security concerns, appeared allergic to the idea of an energy lifeline running through Pakistan. In a nuanced shift last month, the External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, suggested that the Government may not object to energy supplies through Pakistan, if Iran took the risk and responsibility to deliver natural gas at India's doorstep.

In a stroke of political ingenuity, Mr. Singh made the pipeline through Pakistan possible by taking Islamabad out of the energy calculus between New Delhi and Teheran. India considers the pipeline a bilateral issue with Iran.

It is entirely upto Teheran and its international partners to negotiate with Pakistan all legal and security arrangements and offer a reliable line of gas supplies to India.

Iranian team

A high-ranking Iranian delegation headed by the Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs, Mohammad Hossein Adeli, arrived here yesterday to take the discussion forward. The Indian delegation to the talks was headed by Mr. K.V. Rajan, adviser in the External Affairs ministry.

This week's talks are the fourth round of an Indo- Iranian joint committee on energy transportation set up when Mr. Jaswant Singh visited in May last year.

Both India and Iran, diplomatic observers here say, have demonstrated extraordinary pragmatism in overcoming many political and psychological obstacles and fast-forwarding the negotiating process.

India and Iran are expected to commission a detailed project report (DPR) that will review the full range of legal and techno- economic issues involved in building the overland pipeline. The report should be ready in about nine months, informed sources here say.

The two sides are also looking at the feasibility of an underwater pipeline that skirts Pakistan completely and have commissioned a European firm to study the project.

In less than a year, when both the project reports are in, India and Iran should be in a position to review the two options and choose one of them for implementation.

Energy security

The two nations, sources here suggest, are one in their commitment to study both options without prejudice and in detail. India is no longer hostile to the overland pipeline and Iran is not dismissing the under water option as too expensive.

Whichever route they choose in the end, a new relationship between India and Iran, built on the solid foundation of energy security, may be just around the corner.

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