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India, US talks hit snags over pipeline with Iran, F-16s sale to Pakistan

Reuters, New Delhi
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to India as part of a shift toward closer ties hit potentially serious snags yesterday over a pipeline from Iran and possible salesof F-16jetsto Pakistan.
As she held talks in New Delhi, India announced that Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf would visit next month to attend a cricket match between the national teams, his first trip to India in four years.
Rice told her hosts Washington -seeking to apply pressure on Iran over what it says is a secret nuclear weapons program - was concerned over plans for a $4 billion gas pipe-
line from Iran through Pakistan to energy-hungry India.
"We have communicated to the Indian government our concerns about the gas pipeline cooperation between Iran and India," she told reporters after meeting Foreign Minister Natwar Singh on the opening leg of her first trip to Asia as secretary of state.
Rice said US relations with both India and Pakistan had never been better, which she said had helped the neighbors in their year-old peace process.
A Indian government official said Musharraf would come to India on the occasion of a one-day match in New Delhi on April 17, a move which could add momentum to peace efforts.
"More important than the match, I would like to meet the Indian leadership," Musharraf told the BBC in an interview broadcast Tuesday. "I know that they do, there is a desire on their side also. I look forward to making this meeting a little more concrete to move the process forward."
Indo-Pakistani tensions have eased since the two sides began talks last year aimed at ending half a century of enmity.
Washington wants to begin talks on how India can meet its energy demands, including through possible US-lndian cooperation in civilian nuclear power, said a senior State Department official who asked not be named.
President Bush accuses Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, bracketing it with North Korea and pre-war Iraq in a so-called axis of evil. Tehran says its nuclear program is intended only to generate electricity.
India, which has ancient ties with Iran, said it was talking with Tehran about a pipeline to meet its huge energy needs despite US concerns.
"We have no problem of any kind with Iran," Singh said. "The energy requirements of India are growing exponentially in the years to come as we become more and more industrialized."
Indian Oil Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said India needed Iranian gas as it was a relatively cheap source of energy. Aiyar acknowledged, however, that the Iran project faced obstacles including lingering concerns over the safety of a pipeline running through nuclear rival Pakistan.
"I don't think the path is going to be smooth. The security community of India has a less rosy picture about Pakistan. Apprehensions are still there," he said at a book release function.