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India, Iran to Ink 5 Agreements
India and Iran will ink five agreements to give a major thrust to economic ties during Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's four-day official visit to Iran beginning on April 10.
K.V. Rajan, sdvisor to the Ministry of External Affairs said at a press briefing Monday that the cluster of agreements will be on trade and cooperation in energy, both hydro-carbon and non- conventional energy, information technology, technical and customs.
"Both sides at the highest level have expressed political commitment for bilateral cooperation on a long-term basis and there is a promising possibility of strategic partnership in energy and energy-related industry and other fields, " he added.
Asked about the possibility of an overland gas pipeline passing through Pakistan from Iran to India, he said, "The cooperation between Iran and India in supply of natural gas is purely a bilateral exercise. Pakistan is not involved in it."
This will be Vajpayee's first visit to the oil-rich Gulf since he assumed the high office and the first Prime Ministerial one in eight years, the last being that of P.V. Narasimha Rao in 1993.
During the visit of External affairs Minister Jaswant Singh to Iran in May last year, the two sides decided to establish a Joint Committee to consider all aspects including political, economic and technical in transmission of gas to India.
While Iran has been pushing a Pakistani proposal for supplying natural gas to India via Pakistan, New Delhi has voiced reservations of its feasibility on security grounds.
India and Iran have agreed to commission a feasibility study on the "deep sea route" on equal cost-sharing basis.
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