India to double LNG imports, eyes $4 bln gas pipe

India hopes to sign a deal next week to double liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports and begin negotiations for a $4 billion gas pipeline from Iran, as the energy-hungry nation seeks to secure new supplies.

When Mani Shankar Aiyar lands in Islamabad on Sunday, the first visit by an Indian oil minister to Pakistan in decades, his priority will be to thrash out security concerns about the pipeline that will run through Pakistan.