Gas pipeline: India not to be cowed down by anyone

NEW DELHI: India will not be 'cowed down' by anyone including the United States on the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora told Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

In reply to a query from CPI (M) member Brinda Karat on whether some Senators had put pressure on India on the proposed deal, Deora said neither they nor anyone else could pressurise the country on the issue.

The Minister said when US Energy Secretary Sam Bodman during his recent visit to India raised the matter, "we explained to him that it is not their (American) business. We will do whatever is good for us".

"India will not be cowed down by anyone," he said.

Last week, Deora told the Lok Sabha that India was going ahead with discussions on the pipeline project with Iran and Pakistan and that there was no question of "US or any other country interfering in India's internal affairs".

The proposed 2135-km-long pipeline is to be constructed at a total cost of $7.4 billion.