Iran dangles China bait for gas pipeline

Ahead of talks later this month between India and Iran on the multi-billion dollar Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project, Tehran’s envoy used the China card to hasten a decision. While India is dilly-dallying, China is keen on importing gas from Iran.

Ambassador Seyed Mehdi Nabizedeh said India has to make up its mind soon whether it wanted to be party to the project, now being held up thanks to Delhi. “…We hope this tripartite agreement is settled soon, and we don’t have to talk to anyone else,” he said.
But sources said India would not be browbeaten into taking a decision merely because China could replace it.

Initially, the project was welcomed as a peace pipe for stability and prosperity.  But it was a political hot potato for both India and Pakistan with the US opposing any business with Iran. And as India-Pakistan ties worsened and Iran kept hiking transportation cost, negotiations became difficult. New Delhi’s other worry is security of the 2,600-km pipeline as the Taliban keeps attacking oil and gas pipelines every other day.

Unless Iran and Pakistan assuage these anxieties, India would opt out of the project. But officials maintain New Delhi remains “interested”.