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Pak guarantees India piped Iran gas
Says It Can Be Hauled Up In Intl Courts For Flouting Agreements
Sanjay Dutta | TNN
Cancun (Mexico): Pakistan will guarantee safe delivery of Iranian gas to India and security of the proposed $7.4 billion Asian peace pipeline passing through its territory to get Delhi back on the negotiating table. As a sweetener, Islamabad is willing to consider the option of giving India equity in the project and has sought Indian participation in their forthcoming auction of exploration acreages, a top Pakistani official told TOI on the sidelines of the 12th International Energy Forum here
.
Pakistan will stand guarantee for safe delivery of gas on the Pakistan-India border. We have already built in provisions for such guarantees in the gas transportation agreement we signed with Iran earlier this month. It has been notarised in Paris under international conventions. This should convince India of the sincerity of our offer, additional secretary in Pakistans ministry of petroleum and natural resources Mohammed Chaudhry Ejaz said here.
The agreements can be legally enforceable in any international court of law. The transit agreement makes us liable for safe supply of gas. We stand 100% committed to ensuring safe transit of gas to India, Ejaz said. You have to understand that if something happens to the pipeline, we will equally suffer.
Ejaz, who is handling the project for Pakistan, rebutted the contention that the pipeline will not be viable without Indias participation. There is enough demand in Pakistan. We have a shortage of some 3-3.5 billion cubic feet per day of gas at present and 7-8 hours of power outages. The shortage is projected to increase to 6-7 billion cubic feet per day. We are also importing costly LNG (gas in ships). It is in our interest that the pipeline is safe and we get Iranian gas to generate power and fuel industries.
Ejaz declined to comment on differnences between India and Iran over gas price, saying it was a bilateral matter. He also said Pakistan would welcome equity participation of Indian firms in laying and operating the 780-km pipeline passing through its territory.
Indias talks on the pipeline with Iran and Pakistan have been stalled since July 2007. While Tehran has been found vacillating on the pricing issue, Delhis concerns over security and safety of supplies through Pakistan have blocked any progress on the bilateral aspect of the project.
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