The Hindu Business Line : India seeks MFN status from Pak

INDIA on Wednesday sought a Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status from Pakistan apart from using the neighbouring country's territory as a transit for sourcing gas from Central Asia as part of a wider economic and trade co-operation between the two nations.

``The proposed Iran-India gas pipeline passing through Pakistan cannot be looked at in isolation. MFN status and transit rights are part of the wider trade and economic relations. We cannot consider all these issues separately,'' the Union Petroleum Minister, Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, told reporters after a 45-minute meeting with the visiting Pakistan Prime Minister, Mr Shaukat Aziz.

Skirting a query on Pakistan's response to India seeking MFN status, Mr Aiyar said: ``This issue is essentially of the Commerce Ministry and External Affairs Ministry, so we did not have a discussion on it. But yes, MFN status is very much a part of the wider economic and trade issues in which I was attempting to situate the discussion on the pipeline''.

According to the Pakistan Foreign Secretary, Mr Riyaz Khokkar, the Iran-India gas pipeline passing through Pakistan was ``a major confidence building measure (CBM) not just for the two countries but for the whole region, including Iran.''

During his meeting, Mr Aiyar reminded the Pakistan Prime Minister that he had written to his Pakistani counterpart on exporting diesel from India and using Pakistan as a transit for importing gas from Iran, a response to which was awaited.

``I am willing to meet my Pakistani counterpart, either in India or Pakistan, to discuss these issues,'' he said.

On the $4.16-billion Iran-India pipeline, New Delhi also wants Islamabad to guarantee security of physical infrastructure — 760-km of the 2,775-km pipeline will pass through Pakistan — and guarantee for uninterrupted supplies.

Iran has been pursuing the pipeline proposal, which will save India millions of dollars in energy cost, with New Delhi and Islamabad since 1996, but tensions between the two countries has blocked any progress.

Pakistan is expected to get $600 million -$800 million annually in transit fee alone. Iran plans to sell 85 million standard cubic meters per day of natural gas from the pipeline, 57 mmscmd of which are destined for India and the remaining 28 mmscmd for consumption in Pakistan.

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