Natwar Singh in Islamabad on Tuesday. (Reuters)

Islamabad, Oct. 4: The Iran gas pipeline today took its place in India-Pakistan relations along with Kashmir and terrorism. A joint statement said the project will contribute “significantly” to the South Asian neighbours’ “prosperity and development”.

The statement, issued by the two foreign ministers, seems slightly out of sync with what the Indian foreign secretary said yesterday. Shyam Saran had suggested that Delhi’s decision to go ahead with the pipeline will depend solely on the project’s “economic viability”.

Saran had mentioned that India has appointed an economic consultant to look into the project and would discuss the details with the Pakistan energy minister when he visits Delhi in the next few weeks.

Although India has been trying to de-link the pipeline from its vote at the International Atomic Energy Agency ? referring Tehran’s nuclear programme to the UN Security Council at an unspecified date ? there has been speculation that the Centre will now junk the project. Many others felt it will be Pakistan that will buckle under US pressure to stall the pipeline so that Iran can be isolated further.

Today’s statement by Natwar Singh and his Pakistan counterpart, Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri, signalled that neither side is ready to yield to the perceived pressure from Washington.

The joint statement re- affirmed both countries’ commitment to resolve the Kashmir dispute through negotiation and stressed that neither would allow “terrorism” to hobble the peace process. The commitment was aired after a series of meetings between Natwar Singh and the Pakistani leadership, which included President Pervez Musharraf.

Although there is nothing to indicate that India has conceded Pakistan’s request for troop reduction in Jammu and Kashmir to “show some progress”, it has managed to get Islamabad to repeat its commitment to stop cross-border terrorism completely.

The two sides agreed that the composite dialogue has made significant progress and that steps like the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus and the additional bus and truck services across the Line of Control should be seen as confidence-building-measures.

Natwar Singh and Kasuri also chaired the joint commission meeting, the first between the countries in 16 years.

The two sides also took several steps to liberalise their visa regimes, allowing freer travel by businessmen, tourists and students.