Islamabad, July 1: Three months after signing a USD 7.6 billion pact for a gas pipeline with Iran bilaterally, Pakistan has hinted that India had “pulled out” of the trilateral project under US pressure and said it could still join.
 “We never stopped India to be part of it (Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project). India, on its own, accord pulled out,” Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told PTI in an interview here.
 He contended that India “pulled out for obvious reasons” but did not elaborate despite being asked repeatedly, saying “you know it”.
 Qureshi was apparently hinting at the US which has been asking India and Pakistan not to go ahead with the project, saying it would benefit economically the Persian country which is under four rounds of UN sanctions.
 India maintains that it wants to be part of the project but cannot go ahead till its concerns with regard to security and issues related to pricing of gas are addressed.
 Negotiations for the IPI project have been going on since 2005 but India has not been participating in the talks since 2007 citing its concerns.
 Pakistan and Iran signed on March 17 the USD 7.6 billion deal under which a pipeline will be constructed between Iran’s South Fars gas field and southern Balochistan and Sindh provinces to bring the natural resource to Pakistan.

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