In a strange move, India has expressed its willingness to join Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project, and currently New Delhi is holding negotiations with Tehran and the United States to review anti-Iran sanctions in relation to the project. Indian Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister M. Veerappa Moily described the multi-billion-dollar project as ‘beneficial’ to India, arguing that was why India was discussing the issue with Tehran and Washington. Moily was of the view that without any doubt the project was beneficial to our country. The under construction 2,000-kilometre pipeline will enable the export of 21.5 million cubic metres of Iranian natural gas per day to Pakistan. Iran has already constructed more than 900 kilometres of the pipeline on its territory. The United States has persistently opposed involvement of Pakistan and India in the project, which Washington views could violate sanctions imposed on Iran over the country's nuclear energy programme. In 1994, negotiations for ‘Peace Pipeline’ commenced between Iran and Pakistan. India joined the talks in 1999.
Initially, the plan was called Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, which was supposed to deliver Iranian gas to Pakistan and, onwards to India. However, India opted out of the project in 2009 citing dissatisfaction with the transit fee that Pakistan was demanding. There were also concerns about the security of the whole venture that traversed through hostile territory at several points. Last year, a Chinese bank also abandoned the pipeline project out of fear that it might be subjected to international sanctions for dealing with Iran. Pakistan has its own reservation over New Delhi’s joining the project at this state. India is a member of the TAPI gas pipeline project that would take over a decade to complete. There are doubts that India would be able to convince Washington over its plan to rejoin this mega project in presence of UN sanctions against Tehran. Meanwhile, let this be a lesson to Pakistan, that even a brotherly Muslim country like Iran, watches its own interests before anyone else's, welcoming India back to the pipeline at the drop of a hat.