India briefs China on gas pipeline

India, which has proposed to extend the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline to China has briefed Beijing on the latest position on the project as part of the new bilateral initiative to forge cooperation and coordination in the hydrocarbon sector.

"I briefed them on the present state of affairs relating to the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline and the roadmap which we have agreed to with our Iranian and Pakistani partners," Talmiz Ahmad, additional secretary (international cooperation) in the ministry of petroleum and natural gas said.

Beijing has not yet officially commented on New Delhi's proposal. Ahmad, who held the first-ever India-China dialogue on hydrocarbons with senior Chinese officials and oil industry executives in Beijing, said the two sides plan to sign a MoU later this year to monitor and forge bilateral cooperation in the hydrocarbons sector as they rushed to acquire oil and gas fields in Central Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Ahmad said he also briefed the Chinese side on the present position of the Myanmar-India-Bangladesh pipeline and other pipelines India is interested in like the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan pipeline and the Qatar-India-Pakistan pipeline.

Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar had proposed extending the 2600-km-long Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline to China in April during Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's state visit to India.