India committed to Iran gas pipeline: oil minister

NEW DELHI (AFP) – India is committed to a multi-billion dollar pipeline that will transport gas from energy-rich
Iran through Pakistan despite reported objections from United States, Oil Minister Murli Deora said.

“I don’t see any problem (on the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline),” Deora was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India news agency on Saturday.

“No country can debar India from this project. We are committed to this,” Deora said during a visit to India’s financial capital Mumbai.

His comments follow reports that US Energy Secretary
Samuel Bodman, during a visit here this week, had urged India to drop plans to construct the pipeline saying it would help Iran build nuclear weapons.

AFP