"Pakistan has informed the US that it was not possible for it to abandon the project because of its pressing energy needs. In spite of US opposition, Pakistan and Iran signed an agreement for the pipeline on March 16, 2010 at Ankara; and in Tehran, the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and President Asif Ali Zardari signed the Inter Governmental Framework Declaration on May 24, 2009. After the signing ceremony of the sovereign guarantee agreement, our Minister for Petroleum said that the Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement was for the import of 750 million cubic feet daily of natural gas with a provision to increase it to one billion cubic feet per day. He claimed that the gas will be available to Pakistan by 2014.
Though India has lately shown interest in the pipeline again, the real reason why it backed out of the three-nation deal was its nuclear deal with the U.S. signed in 2008. It is also believed that there were deliberate attempts by India to sabotage this vital venture, as New Delhi used it as a bargaining chip with the US during discussions on nuclear accord to gain more concessions. Earlier, in 2008, Iran had also expressed its interest to provide gas to China.
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