Iran prods India to rejoin IPI gas pipeline project

New Delhi: Iranian ambassador to India, Seyed Mehdi Nabizadeh, said Tuesday that China was interested in the proposed multi-billion Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project in an obvious attempt to prod a reluctant India into rejoining a project, which it has all but officially abandoned.

The Iranian envoy, however, refused to comment on whether his country is holding talks with China over the tri-nation pipeline.

The envoy asked India to rejoin the pipeline project and also stressed that the offer was not available for an "unlimited period." He was responding to a question from the media if there was any timeframe for India to rejoin the project.

"Work on the project is progressing very fast and one should understand the urgency to join the pipeline," the envoy told reporters.

Though part of the project officially, India and Iran have repeatedly failed to settle contentious issues, such as the pricing of Iranian gas. The security of the pipeline is another matter of concern for India as it passes through insurgency-prone areas of Pakistan.

Early this month, reacting to Pakistani claims that India had quit the project, petroleum minister Murli Deora said, "With Iran the question is still open, but because of the political situation in Pakistan, just now there is a little bit of a stop on that."

Pakistan and Iran have already signed up for the project.