India and Pakistan need gas and they have to press ahead with this project. Irans Deputy Petroleum Minister Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian has said that the two countries might have to import 900,000 more barrels per day of crude if the gas project is not finalized. He has admitted that the pipeline project, supposed to serve the three countries and the entire region, is facing politically motivated pressure. Facing opposition from the United States on the proposed tri-nation IPI gas pipeline due to Irans nuclear programs, Pakistan has hoped the project will be speeded up after its latest talks with Tehran but maintained that it was weighing the other two options of pipeline from Qatar and Turkmenistan. “Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project will promote regional cooperation and will open up new avenues of interaction for the mutual advantages,” Pakistans Minister for Petroleum and National Resources Ammanullah Kahn Jadoon said during his talks with Iranian Deputy Petroleum Minister Najeed Hosseinian last week. The Pakistani official, however, said his government was pursuing the Turkmenistan and Qatar gas pipeline projects and desired to implement one of the most viable projects as quickly as possible to meet the energy supply-demand gap after 2010. The latest meeting between Iranian and Pakistani officials took place while US Under Secretary Nicholas Burns said his country was opposed to the project and India and Pakistan should look for new avenues to meet their energy needs. Burns, who visited Pakistan a few days ago, told Geo TV in an interview that US was opposed to the project in view of Tehrans reluctance to cooperate on the nuclear front. Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said a decision on which of the project Pakistan would opt for by the end of 2005 but no decision came. Nejad-Hosseinian has made it clear that Iran should not sacrifice itself for the pipeline that would serve the three countries and the entire region. “It is up to these two countries to safeguard their national interests and resist political pressures,” he said, adding that Iran would not sell its gas at low prices. India and Pakistan should share pressures being applied on them.