Posted on 10/23/2007 4:00:23 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Senior Indian government ministers are showing fresh enthusiasm for building an oil and gas pipeline to Iran, in a move likely to add further tensions to US-India relations.
Growing support for the pipeline, which would pass through Pakistan, comes as hopes fade for a hasty conclusion to a historic nuclear power agreement with the US.
Palaniappan Chidambaram, India’s finance minister, said after meeting his Iranian counterpart in Washington on Monday that the pipeline was “completely doable” and “we should do it – Iran has the gas and we need the gas”.
He added: “He asked me about our commitment to the pipeline. I said we remain committed.”
The finance minister’s comments risk irritating the administration of George W. Bush, US president, and adding to its disappointment at India’s stalled efforts to push through a bilateral nuclear co-operation agreement. Manmohan Singh, the Indian premier, last week told Mr Bush that opposition from leftist members of India’s Congress-led coalition government meant it was having difficulties implementing the deal.
People close to Mr Singh, who has twice publicly shaken hands on the deal with Mr Bush, say he is “embarrassed” by the government’s inability to move ahead. There are also a growing number of reports that he is considering resigning.
Nicholas Burns, the US undersecretary of state for political affairs, has said Washington hopes “very much that India will not conclude any long-term oil and gas agreements with Iran”.
India has been blowing hot and cold on the pipeline during the nuclear talks with Washington but Pakistan and Iran recently announced their intention to sign a memorandum of understanding on the pipeline and a related sale and purchase agreement by the end of this month.
By increasing the potential size and profitability of the pipeline, India’s participation could overcome financing obstacles at a time when Pakistan’s turbulent domestic political situation has made it difficult to attract the required $5bn-7bn in private capital.
Under the 1996 Iran-Libya Sanctions Act, the US could in theory impose sanctions on countries that assist Iran in exploiting its petroleum resources.
But New Delhi insists that its decision on whether to participate in the pipeline will be based solely on an assessment of its own national interest.
“How India handles ever-tighter US-led sanctions against Iran will determine whether a degree of strain is injected into the Indo-US strategic relationship just as it is beginning to unfold,” said N.K. Singh, a political analyst. “There are 40m Shias in India and I don’t think the political parties will be unmindful of how all this plays out in terms of the Muslim vote in general and the Shia vote in particular.”
Palaniappan Chidambaram...???..say that with a mouth full of curry
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