2007年VOA标准英语-India, Pakistan and Iran Close To Gas Pipeline

India says it is close to finalizing¹ a deal to transport natural gas from Iran to India via Pakistan. As Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi, officials from the three countries have held talks in the Indian capital on the $7 billion project, which has been opposed by the United States.

petroleum2 minister Murli Deora (center) shakes hand with Iran's special representative of Ministry3 of Oil Ghanimi Fard (l) before the start of a meeting, in New Delhi, 29 Jun 2007" hspace="2" src="http://www.tingroom.com/upimg/allimg/070704/1429570.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Indian petroleum minister Murli Deora (center) shakes hands with Iran's special representative of Ministry of Oil Ghanimi Fard (l) before the start of a meeting, in New Delhi, 29 Jun 2007

India's petroleum minister, Murli Deora, said Friday that officials from Iran, India and Pakistan have resolved most issues relating to the gas pipeline⁴ that would carry gas from Iran to the two South Asian countries.

The Indian minister spoke⁵ to reporters in New Delhi after officials from the three countries held talks on issues such as price mechanisms⁶ and transit⁷ fees for the $7 billion pipeline.

"I am very glad that they have reached to a great extent on all the sides agreements…maybe small things are still pending⁸," he said.

Indian officials say an Iranian demand to revise the price of natural gas every three years is still to be negotiated. Another pending issue is the transit fee that Pakistan will receive for allowing the flow of gas to India.

Indian officials say ministers from the three countries are expected to meet next month, first in Pakistan and then in Iran, to hammer out the final details.

The 2,600 kilometer pipeline has been billed as a "peace pipeline." It will initially⁹ carry around 60 million cubic meters of gas per day starting in 2011 to both India and Pakistan.

India and Pakistan are pressing ahead with the pipeline deal despite strong opposition¹⁰ from the United States, which wants them to abandon the project. Washington feels the mammoth¹¹ project will undermine its campaign to isolate¹² Tehran, which it accuses of having a clandestine¹³ nuclear weapons program.

India and Pakistan, however, say they want to ensure fuel supplies for their energy-hungry economies. They also say the project will strengthen regional cooperation.

Bharat Karnad, a security analyst¹⁴ at the independent Center for Policy Research in New Delhi, says the project has significant benefits for both India and Pakistan.

"The fact of the matter is both countries are enormously energy-starved, so a proximal energy source that you are getting at a reasonable economic cost is hard to resist for either Pakistan or India," said Karnad. "And the fact also is …Iran is a factor in the stability of the region, so you cannot afford to in a sense to make a pariah¹⁵ out of Iran."

Negotiations¹⁶ on the project began in 1994 but were stalled for years as India expressed concern over the safety of the pipeline that would run through Pakistan, its rival for decades. But the project got fresh momentum¹⁷ after tensions eased between the South Asian neighbors following a peace process that began in 2004.