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Journalism of Courage
Faced with stiff conditions put forward by Bangladesh, India is now exploring alternative routes for the Indo-Myanmar gas pipeline. One possibility is to allow the pipeline to pass through Indian territory and use the mountain terrain of North-East to reach West Bengal. However, the transportation cost will go up.
According to an official in the petroleum ministry: ‘‘We are also exploring importing gas through ships in its liquefied state (LNG) or compressed form (CNG).’’
Dhaka, which had in January agreed to the passage of the pipeline through its territory, has now demanded from India a trade and power corridor to Nepal and Bhutan and measures to reduce Bangladesh’s $2 billion trade deficit. New Delhi has opposed making bilateral issues part of a trilateral agreement.
Ministry officials said the possibility of taking the pipeline from Myanmar into Mizoram and onwards to Assam and culminating in West Bengal, a distance of 1400-km, will be explored.
