India is said to be willing to rejoin a major cross-border gas pipeline project that will see Iranian gas flow into Pakistan and India.
Negotiations on the Peace Pipeline project are back on the table according to the Additional Secretary of India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Sudhir Bhargava, Iran’s Mehr News Agency reported.
During his meeting with Iranian Deputy Oil Minister for International and Commercial Affairs Ahmad Khaledi, the Indian official went on to say, “India welcomes boosting oil and gas ties with Iran,” the news agency reported.
The project also known as the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline is a proposed 2,775-kilometre pipeline to deliver natural gas from Iran to Pakistan and India. Iran has also invited Bangladesh to participate in the project.
The three countries conceptualised the Peace Pipeline project in the 1990s to help boost peace and security in the region.
The recent tense relations between India and Pakistan prompted New Delhi to step away from the later stages of negotiations, although it has never formally withdrawn from the project.
Iran’s proved natural gas reserves are about 1,000 trillion cubic feet, of which 33% are as associated gas and 67% is in non associated gas fields. Iran has the world’s second largest gas reserves after Russia.
