NEW DELHI, June 17 (UPI) -- Discussions with New Delhi regarding a natural gas pipeline from Iran through Pakistan "have stalled," Iranian officials said during a visit to India.
Tehran was pushing for the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline, which would have stretched from the South Pars gas complex in the Persian Gulf through Pakistan and India. The project, however, was up against a Western-backed project from Turkmenistan.
A delegation led by Iranian Deputy Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran Ali Bagheri visited with Indian officials to press for the project. The Iranian team, however, left empty-handed.
"The discussions on the IPI have been stalled," the Iranian delegation was quoted by Indian newspaper The Hindu as saying, "so Iran and Pakistan are bilaterally pushing the idea. The option for India to join is open."
The Iranians argued that nuclear power options for India were limited in the wake of Japan's nuclear disaster. Natural gas, they said, would continue to play a dominant role in the regional energy mix.
Iran is one of the world's leading natural gas producers. India, for its part, is on pace to become one of the top five energy consumers in the world.
Dubbed the Peace Pipeline, the project was envisioned in the 1990s.
