India on Monday shrugged off US concerns over a $4-billion gas pipeline it plans to build from Iran through Pakistan, saying it would proceed with the project if it made economic sense.Warming diplomatic ties with neighbour Pakistan have added momentum to India’s plans to build pipelines from Iran, Turkmenistan and Myanmar in a bid to tap cheap energy supplies to fuel its booming economy. “I think that there are a number of companies working in Iran, including a large number of European companies,” Petroleum Secretary S.C. Tripathi told reporters in the Malaysian capital. “A large number of countries are having economic relations with Iran, therefore, it should be possible for us also to work out a reasonable and well-drafted and well-crafted hydrocarbon agreement with Iran. I think it should be possible.”Tripathi is leading a roadshow to Malaysia to attract investment in 20 offshore and inland oil blocks India is offering for exploration in the fifth round of its New Exploration Licensing Policy.US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on a trip to Asia last week, told India the US had concerns over the pipeline deal. “We have communicated to the Indian government our concerns about the gas pipeline cooperation between Iran and India,” Rice told reporters in New Delhi.Tripathi said India’s decision on the pipeline would be based on long-term energy security rather than immediate politics. “We are looking at the requirements of the country in a perspective of 10, 20 and 50 years. Geopolitics can change. “For a transnational pipeline, I can’t look at countries beyond our neighbours because there is a certain techno-economic feasibility there,” he said. — Reuters
