China may replace India in IPI project: Report

China may replace India in the proposed India-Pakistan-Iran (IPI) gas pipeline project as New Delhi has been dithering over the deal, a media report has said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki claimed that Tehran was ready to start anytime the IPI “peace pipeline” project, originally conceived to include Iran, Pakistan and India. China might replace India in the proposed project soon as India has been dithering over the deal, Mottaki is reported to have said. All the details between Pakistan and Iran in this regard have already been finalised, according to a report in Tehran Times newspaper. India still needed some time but “we can even start the project without India”, Mottaki was quoted as saying by the daily.

The IPI project was conceived in 1995 and, after almost 13 years, India finally decided to quit the project in 2008. India walked out of the proposed 2,775-km project, mainly due to the hefty transit fee demanded by Pakistan.

Mootaki blamed the US for trying to sabotage the gas pipeline project, saying: “Growing relations between the US and India should not affect the relations of India with other countries of the region.”