Bangladesh has said that it is open to a tripartite agreement with Myanmar and India to explore the possibilities of transporting gas to India, and a pipeline through the eastern corridor is expected to bring in the much-required gas for the eastern region in India. This comes at a time when India is discussing possibilities of getting into a back-to-back bilateral agreement with Iran to import natural gas at its border. Bangladesh, with huge deposits of natural gas, has till now stayed away from a direct dialogue on trading gas with India. However, Aiyar will be a member of the Indian government’s delegation to Dhaka this month, to participate in the Saarc summit. With Bangladesh now willing to explore the possibilities of entering into a tripartite agreement, Aiyar is expected to follow-up his Dhaka visit with official talks in Rangoon soon after, and sources say that Bangladesh is expected to join in the Rangoon meeting. For India, which has been making an effort to import gas from its west coast, the proposed eastern corridor could open up new sources of energy and gas. OVL has a 20% interest, supported with 10% stake by Gail in two offshore blocks in Myanmar. The other consortium partners are Daewoo and Kogas. Block A-1 extends over an area of about 3,885 sq km off Myanmar’s Rakhine Coast, close to Bangladesh, and the pipeline is one of the several options being considered by India to bring gas from the offshore fields in Myanmar. Sources say that India could explore possibilities of a participating interest in building the 290-km gas trunkline, although Bangladesh’s state-owned is expected to be responsible for managing the stretch in its country. Although no official figures are available, sources say the pipeline could involve an investment of about $ 1 billion. Bangladesh, by offering the transit corridor, could earn about $125 million/yr in transit fees for the pipeline, that would run through Arakan (Rakhine) state in Myanmar to the Mizoram and Tripura in India before crossing Bangladesh to Kolkata.