Iran warns India of exclusion from deal

Iran has warned that it would sign a multi-billion dollar gas pipeline deal with Pakistan alone if New Delhi did not swiftly agree terms on transit pricing with Islamabad, says an AFP report. New Delhi and Islamabad have yet to agree over the payment of transit fees by India to Pakistan.

The agency report says that Iranian and Pakistani officials are holding a new round of talks this week over finalising the long-delayed pipeline, which would see Iranian gas sent to Pakistan and to India via Pakistan. But Indian officials have been absent from the talks.

"We prefer it to be a tripartite deal, but if it does not happen we will sign it with the Pakistanis," caretaker Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari sais. But he repeated that the door is not totally closed for the Indian side. "We are still emphasising that we want it to be tripartite deal. The door is still open for the Indians," he added.