Himalayan News Service

Islamabad, March 11:

A meeting of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) energy ministers scheduled here next week has been put off following an Indian request. The postponement of the March 17-18 meeting would delay the progress on the proposed $4 billion Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, the Daily Times newspaper reported, quoting a senior petroleum ministry official. The meeting was postponed after India’s oil and natural gas minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said that he would be unable to attend, as the budget session of parliament is under way. He noted that the ministers of the three countries were to discuss the project details on the sidelines of the SAARC conference. The Iranian minister had also been invited to Islamabad to discuss on the pipeline project.