Pakistan Petroleum Minister Amanullah Khan Jadoon today said his country would have no issue with India on how it secured its gas supply as long as Islamabad was paid the transit fee.Speaking to The Indian Express, Jadoon said he had no objection to India dealing directly with Iran—Tehran’s Kamal Kharrazi will be in New Delhi on February 20—on the delivery of gas, much in the same way as Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran when they met last December: ‘‘There are many ways to skin a cat.’’Open to the idea of India looking at other options, Jadoon in fact feels that New Delhi’s latest decision is close to what Pakistan had originally proposed.The only obstacle till now, he said, had been the Indian approach which linked other conditions to the project.But given the recent Cabinet decision to authorise Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar to conduct negotiations for the pipeline, Jadoon said he was looking forward to the first meeting in March on the margins of the SAARC Energy Ministers meet.‘‘All I know is Mani Shankar has been authorised to speak to us. As long as there are no conditions attached, we are willing to look at all options,’’ he said.External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh and his counterpart Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri will discuss the gas pipeline project and are expected to let Petroleum Ministers hold discussions in the matter in the light of the Cabinet decision.Jadoon hoped that the Cabinet decision also meant delinking conditions like MFN status to India and transit rights for trade with Afghanistan as this was something the Pakistan Prime Minister had conveyed during his visit to New Delhi last November.It’s learnt that the Cabinet decision does translate into delinking these conditions and viewing the project as one that is needed to further India’s energy security. It also endorses the Petroleum Ministry’s proposal to negotiate directly with Iran on the terms and conditions for delivery of the gas on the India-Pakistan border.Instead of a tripartite agreement, the new approach envisages two separate agreements for the project to go through. One will be between India and Iran while the other would be between Pakistan and Iran, spelling out construction and transit costs among other details related to building the pipeline.However, an umbrella agreement between three countries extending sovereign guarantees has also been catered for in case it is needed to expedite financial closure. Security of the pipeline and assured supply of gas will be part of the commercial agreements signed with the company or consortium that will undertake construction of the project.Jadoon has no objections to any of this: ‘‘It is India’s decision the way it wants to get the gas. All we are interested is that Pakistan should get the transit fee in line with international norms. The rest we can discuss when Mani Shankar comes here in March.’’But the problem for Islamabad could now be from Washington. According to officials here, the US is not in favour of Pakistan furthering such a big project with Iran that is facing a difficult time for its alleged nuclear weapons programme. But Jadoon maintains that Pakistan needs gas and will look at all options, be it Qatar, Turkmenistan or Iran.Incidentally, Jadoon today held talks with the visiting Petroleum Minister of Qatar and both countries decided to set up a high-level joint technical group that will meet next week in Doha to explore possibilities of a gas pipeline between the two countries and come up with a viable option.
