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Petroleum Industry & Economy - Infrastructure Government - Foreign Relations US opposes Iran gas pipeline project Our Bureau
Mr Bodman said the US believed that the Iranian pipeline would help the Islamic Republic to pursue its nuclear weapons ambitions.
US OPPOSES IRAN PIPELINE: Mr Samul W. Bodman, Energy Secretary, US, with Dr Anil Kakodkar, Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy, during a meeting on `Indo US Civilian Nuclear Cooperation: Opportunities & Challenges' organised by FICCI in Mumbai on Thursday. Mr Bodman put across the message that the US was opposed to the gas pipeline project linking Iran and India through Pakistan. — Paul Noronha
Mumbai March 22 Even while seeking to push forward the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, the US Energy Secretary, Mr Samuel Bodman, on Thursday, put across the message that the US was opposed to the gas pipeline project linking Iran and India through Pakistan. Talking to reporters after emerging out of a FICCI-sponsored closed-door meeting on Indo-US civilian nuclear cooperation in Mumbai, Mr Bodman said the US believed that the Iranian pipeline would help the Islamic Republic to pursue its nuclear weapons ambitions. "I think the pipeline project is against the interests of the US and (also) against the interests of the world. I feel that supporting nuclear weapons is against the interests of the world," he said. Mr Bodman said: "We have conveyed (to the Indian Government) at the highest level our opposition to the support of the Iranian regime, as they (Iran) are developing nuclear weapons. We need to stop this." He said there were "conversations between India and other nations and Iran on finding ways to develop oil and gas assets (in Iran). And if that is allowed to go forward, in our judgment, it will contribute to the development of nuclear weapons." He however said the US was continuing to work with the Indian Government to finalise the civilian nuclear deal between he two countries. Making it clear that these two issues "operated in separate areas", Mr Bodman reiterated that his primary focus during his present visit to India was on the civilian nuclear deal.
Energy security
Earlier, in his opening remarks at the FICCI meet, Mr Bodman underscored the need for energy security, adding that nuclear power should be a part of energy solutions. Lauding India's efforts to build and design nuclear reactors, he said the US had a lot to learn and gain from the civilian nuclear cooperation between the two countries. Dr Anil Kakodkar, Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy, and Mr S.K. Jain, Chairman and Managing Director of Nuclear Power Corporation of India, were also present at the roundtable meeting. Earlier, Mr Bodman visited two boiling water nuclear reactors at Tarapur, India's oldest reactor.
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