Pak assures India of a safe IPI pipeline

Cancun, Apr 1: A day after India proposed dialgoue with Iran to discuss the impediments in implementation of the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project, Pakistan assured India about the safety of the pipeline.

"We (the State of Pakistan) will stand guarantee for safe delivery of gas (at Pakistan-India border)," Mohammed Chaudhry Ejaz, Additional Secretary in Pakistan´s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources said in a news agency report.

New Delhi had said that the Iran must take the responsibility of ensuring safe passage of gas through 1,035-km pipeline length in Pakistan, of which only 100-odd km would be devoted only for carrying gas to India.

"We have up to nine hours of power outages and we need Iranian gas to bridge this rising deficit. It is in our interest that the pipeline is safe and we get the gas to generate power and fuel industries," he said.

India had suspended formal talks with Iran on the project for the past three years due to security concerns.

Commenting India's participation in the project, Ejaz said that Pakistan would be more than happy to have India join the project.

"Yes, we will more than welcome India to join the project length in Pakistan," Ejaz said.

OneIndia News