Indian foreign minister Natwar Singh on Monday said that Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project is very much on board and progressing as per schedule, adding its joint working group (JWG) is scheduled to meet in New Delhi some time in November.
The visiting Indian minister was talking to journalists at a reception held by Indian High Commission in his honour on the second day of his talks with his Pakistani counterpart Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri.
Natwar categorically denied that Iranian government has scrapped a multi-billion dollar LPG agreement with India for voting against its controversial nuclear programme.
He said, "India's agreement with Iran for LPG import is in place and New Delhi is hopeful that IPI gas pipeline project will go through and Pak-India JWP is meeting to discuss its modalities in New Delhi next month."
India's vote against Iran's nuclear programme invited harsh reaction from Tehran that announced to stop supply of petroleum products in the international market in case its nuclear issue was referred to the UN Security Council for action.
Pakistan, India and Iran are working on a tripartite gas line project for the last one-decade. Since it is very important project all the parties are making serious efforts to make it a reality as soon as possible.
Things were moving in the right direction and all the parties were showing commitment for early completion of the paper work and other formalities, that in the meantime Iran-US row over nuclear issue has made things cloudy.
In the given situation, Natwar Singh's clear reply that India is for the IPI project and it will make all out efforts to push it forward is of immense importance.
Responding to a query, the Indian foreign minister said that he was satisfied with the outcome of his meetings with Pakistani counterpart and hopefully things were taking shape for the best.
When asked as if India was ready to hand over Jinnah House to Pakistan, Natwar Singh said India was taking good care of the Jinnah House and it will take account of Pakistan's attachment with it at every step. He added that India was ready to hand over Jinnah House to Saarc of which Pakistan is a key member.
Natwar said that the ongoing phase of dialogue was making progress to his satisfaction and its end result will be lasting peace between the two countries.
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