A 13-month-old peace process between the South Asian nuclear-armed rivals seems to have breathed new life into the project, however, with the Indian Cabinet recently giving its approval to a $ 4.5-billion deal to be signed with Iran in June, according to Iranian media.

In a meeting in New Delhi earlier this month, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi and the Indian officials discussed the finer details of the proposed pipeline.

"We are convinced that the Iran-India pipeline through Pakistan will benefit all three countries and substantially improve political and economic relations between India and Pakistan," Kharrazi told a foreign policy think tank in New Delhi. Attending an energy summit in the Indian capital, a team of officials from the National Iranian Gas Co. and the National Iranian Oil Co. met with their Indian counterparts to discuss the project, including the quantity of gas, the size of the pipeline, its alignment and the capital cost.

According to a study by the Indian BHP Billiton, the 1,700-mile pipeline will originate at Assaluyeh, Iran, and terminate at the Indian border, somewhere in the western state of Rajasthan, with a tap-off point at Multan in Pakistan.

Iranian media quoted a top Indian official involved in the talks as saying he hoped the project could take off in less than a year and be completed by 2010-11.

But, what has most shadowed the dream project have been Indian concerns over the security of the pipeline and the guarantee of assured supplies, matters which, some Indian sources say, have been "satisfactorily addressed" under a new formula suggested by Iran.

A security force to patrol the pipeline, most of which will be buried underground, said a top Indian official quoted by the Iranian daily Iran News. Besides, satellite monitoring, and motion sensors will be installed to spot any possible insurgent attack. The one-quarter portion of the whole line passing through Pakistan is seen as a possible target of attacks by local tribes who have, in the past, targeted oil and gas facilities. Moreover, the agreement with Iran will mandate the country stop supplies to Pakistan should it close the tap on India.

The official was further quoted as having said India will build a "huge storage" facility that will be able to take care of a 15-day supply.

Following a common signal by the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan that they wanted to go ahead with the project, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz arrived in Iran Tuesday on a three-day visit to boost ties and discuss a the pipeline. He said the project could bring Iran and Pakistan closer and also benefit energy-starved India.

"The three countries can create situation where it is beneficial to the economies of the three," he said.

With an estimated economic growth rate of 6-7 percent in coming years, India is expected to require some 14 billion cubic feet of gas per day by 2025, up from 3.2 billion cubic feet now. Experts say the country relies on the outside world for more than 70 percent of its growing energy needs. According to Iranian media, Tehran and New Delhi have already signed a contract worth $20 billion to $30 billion for the commencement in 2009 of a yearly export of 5-7 metric tons of Iranian LNG to India.

Iran, after Russia, stands second in terms of the world gas reserves.

Likewise, Pakistan, with limited reserves of fossil fuel, also enjoys a high economic growth rate of 6 percent, making it vital for the country to opt for foreign gas. Islamabad, Aziz said, is also considering Qatar and Turkmenistan as two potential gas providers, but neither country is as technically or economically attractive as Iran.

Analysts believe the political will in both Islamabad and New Delhi exist to see the project through. By calling the project the "pipeline of peace" or the "pipeline of friendship," Iranian and Pakistani officials hope it will ultimately act as a means of doing away with more than half a century of political enmity in the Indian subcontinent.

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