TEHRAN, Dec. 9 (Shana) � Foreign ministers of Iran and India met in Islambad on Wednesday negotiating promotion of bilateral relations including construction of a seabed pipeline to export gas to energy thirsty India.

The meeting between Mohammad-Javad Zarif and Sushma Swaraj took place on the sidelines of the conference Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process which focuses on helping settlement of the challenges in Afghanistan.

�With the closing of (nuclear) PMD case, there is no longer any impediment on the way of increasing relations between Iran and India,� Zarif said, adding that New Delhi can cooperate with Tehran in development of Chah Bahar Port as well as other economic, trade, and banking activities.

Managing Director of National Iranian Gas Export Company (NIGEC) said on Monday that Tehran and New Delhi are seriously negotiating construction of a trans Oman Sea-Indian Ocean pipeline.

�The 4.5-billion pipeline is set to pump 31.5 mcm of Iran�s gas to India�s western Gurjarat port,� Ali-Reza Kameli was quoted saying to reporters on the sidelines of the Fifth World Energy Policy Summit in New Delhi.

�The construction of the Iran-India pipeline will be completed in two years after signing the contract,� he said.

Gas-rich Iran which holds the largest reservoirs of 34 tcm or 18 percent of the global resources has entered into contracts for export of natural gas to neighboring Turkey, Pakistan, Iraq, and UAE.

Last November, Chairman of Coordination Committee of the International Gas Union (IGU) said India and Pakistan are considered a special market for Iran�s gas considering their developing economies.

�Iran has the capacity to increase it gas export and boost presence in the global markets,� Menelaos Ydreos said on the sidelines of an IGU meeting, adding that Iran�s gas industry is advanced and systematic.

Iran and neighboring Pakistan are working on the construction of a gas pipeline which will pump natural gas to the South Asian nation. The gasline can be extended to India and China via Pakistan.

By SHANA