Shanghai, June 16: India and Iran have held
discussions on New Delhi's plans to buy liquefied natural
gas (LNG) from Tehran.
The issue was discussed during parleys Union Minister
for Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora had with and Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday on the sidelines of
the fifth summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
(SCO).
"The Minister had very good discussions with the
Iranian President on India's plan to buy LNG," a senior
diplomatic source said.
India and Iran had signed the LNG deal in June 2005,
by which New Delhi would buy the five million tonnes of the
fuel from Tehran for a 25-year period from 2009.
The deal had run into rough patch after India voted
against Iran at the IAEA in September 2005, when Tehran's
suspected nuclear ambitions were reviewed.
Iran has the second largest gas and oil reserves
across the world.
Deora, who led the Indian delegation to the SCO
Summit, also had informal meetings with Russian President
Vladimir Putin, Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf,
Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai and a host of other
leaders from Central Asia, who are members of the SCO.
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, June 16, 2006, 00:00