India, Pakistan Discuss Pipeline Projects

LAHORE, Pakistan – India’s oil minister began a visit to Pakistan on Saturday to discuss importing natural gas from Iran and Turkmenistan via this Islamic nation.

Mani Shankar Aiyar, India’s petroleum and natural gas minister, was scheduled to meet with his Pakistani counterpart, Amanullah Khan Jadoon, and other officials during his four-day visit.

“We want to discuss all technical aspects with Pakistan for importing natural gas from Iran and Turkmenistan,” Aiyar said on arrival in the eastern city of Lahore.

Iran proposed the 2,775-kilometer (1,735-mile) Iran-Pakistan pipeline in 1996 to export its gas to Pakistan and to India, but the project has never gotten off the ground because of Indian concerns about its safety in rival Pakistan.

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