Pipe down

Meeting between OIl & Petroleum Ministers of India and Pakistan was about pleasing each other

Meetings may not always mean business, even if it involves the energy security of two nations. At Petrotech 2012, S Jaipal Reddy, minister of petroleum and natural gas, met Pakistan’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources Asim Hussain to discuss the way forward on the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India, or TAPI, pipeline. What happened at the meeting? Reddy’s answer was evasive. Sometimes, he said, “Such discussions are held merely to please themselves, even if there are no business prospects”. Who was trying to please whom remained a mystery.