India to hold bilateral meeting with Pak on June 27

Noida, June 20 (UNI) India will hold a bilateral meeting with Pakistan regarding the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline on 27th of this month, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora said today.

Talking to newspersons, Mr Deora said he had spoken to a Pakistani official at the secretarial level, who had invited him to Pakistan for talks. ''They have shown keen interest in the pipeline project,'' he said.

The minister said the response from the neighbouring country has been positive so far.

The bilateral meeting discussing the pipeline will be held in the capital followed by a trilateral meeting with Pakistan and Iran on June 28.

''This will pave way for the ministerial meet in the second week of July,'' the minister added.

The IPI pipeline, also known as the 'Peace pipeline', is a proposed 2,775 km gas pipeline project to deliver natural gas from Iran to Pakistan and India.

The project is expected to take three to five years to complete and cost seven billion dollars. The project is expected to benefit both India and Pakistan, which are currently facing problem of insufficient supply of natural gas.

India is predicted to require 400 million cubic metres of gas per day by 2025, up from 90 million cubic metres per day in 2005.

UNI