'IPI project to become a reality if price is agreed on'

Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram also says, "we are disappointed that some country should advise us against the pipeline for other geo-political reasons."

India is "disappointed" that "some country" should advise it against the Iran-Pakistan- India (IPI) gas pipeline, but feels that there is "nothing wrong" with the project.

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"I think if the price of the gas is agreed upon, the pipeline will become a reality," Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram said at an interactive session at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington.

"There is no politics. We wish to have a pipeline and all three countries, to the best of my knowledge, are agreed in principle on the need and feasibility of the pipeline. What is still not resolved is the price of the gas," he said.

He said Salman Shah, the advisor to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, visited India about three weeks ago and affirmed that Islamabad is committed to the pipeline. "In Iran, there has been some change of guard there. I don't know the details," Chidambaram said.

"We are disappointed that some country should advise us against the pipeline for other geo-political reasons. We think that if Iran has gas, if India needs gas and Pakistan needs gas, there is nothing wrong in having an Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline," the Minister argued.