The India-Pakistan-Iran pipeline project is facing serious hurdles including pricing and fierce opposition of the U.S. government for some times. For India, Iran, world’s second largest oil and gas proven reserves, is a big market and an important access route to Central Asia and Afghanistan. According to some political experts, the IPI project will be proved as the mother of all confidence-building measures between these two neighboring countries. They have even called the IPI project as the ‘Peace Pipeline’
The U.S. concerns over the IPI project is not linked to the economic side of the deal but to Washington’s Iran policy. The US has had not good relations with Iran since the 1979 revolution. In past some years, the US administration has been accusing Iran for carrying nuclear-weapon ambitions.
India has come under greater pressure because of the development of bilateral relations with US. The Indo-US nuclear deal, which gives India’s nuclear capability a legitimacy, the first one outside the Non-Proliferation Treaty, may force India to come out of the Iran pipeline deal.
The IPI is being perceived as running against this broad strategic American perspective where India is being emerged as an ally to counter China’s rising power and Iran regional importance.
However, the fact of the matter is that regional pipelines actually contribute to the sustainable growth and stability of the linked regions. The IPI project will do the same for the three countries involved in the project for sure. more
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