Indian High Commissioner Shivshankar Menon on Friday stressed upon the need to step up efforts for an early commencement of proposed Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline.
He said three countries - Iran, India and Pakistan - should gear up and complete the consultation process as soon as possible so that a "very vital" pipeline for the region could be laid.
He was delivering a lecture here on "India - today and tomorrow" organised by the South Asia Free Media Association (Safma).
The Indian high commissioner said as both India and Pakistan were in desperate need of energy and its sources so the pipeline would benefit them.
Menon, however, were tight-lipped on how much a recent US-India deal for co-operation in nuclear technology for civilian purposes had undermined the importance of the proposed project.
Experts believe India can go into reverse from its commitment to make Iran-Pakistan-India a reality after it has secured a nuclear deal with the US, but still positive signals are being transmitted from across Wagah.
What the Shivshankar Menon said during the lecture was another example that New Delhi was firm on its pre-deal position vis-à-vis Iran-Pakistan-India.
The Indian high commissioner also called upon both New Delhi and Islamabad to renew visa agreements between the two countries on priority basis.
This, Menon added, would enhance the people-to-people contact between India and Pakistan that he argued was imperative to herald a durable peace in the region.
He said some 1,000 people travelled between India and Pakistan through the Line of Control (LoC) last year, which was a good omen.
If such contacts continued, he said, it could force the leadership of both the countries to realise the importance of peace.
He said India was ready to talk to Kashmiri leadership, including freedom fighters to reach at a durable solution of the longstanding issue between New Delhi and Islamabad.
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