VOA常速英语2008年-Iran's President to Visit India to Discuss Ener

By Steve Herman
New Delhi
21 April 2008

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to make a brief visit to India before the end of the month. It will be the first trip to the South Asian nation by an Iranian head of state in five years. Discussions are expected to include a proposed Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline¹. As VOA Correspondent Steve Herman reports from New Delhi, India's long-standing and friendly ties with Iran put it at odds² with U.S. efforts to isolate³ Tehran over its controversial nuclear program.

Indian government officials say Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will make a brief stop in New Delhi before the end of April on his way to Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The first visit by an Iranian president to New Delhi in five years comes amid U.S. efforts to have India and other nations increase pressure on Tehran to halt its suspected nuclear weapons development program.

The diplomatic relationship between Iran and India suffered after 2005, when the government here supported an International Atomic Energy Agency vote finding Iran in non-compliance with its international nuclear obligations.

Research fellow Shebonti Ray Dadwal at India's Institute for Defense⁴ Studies and Analyses says ties, however, are improving.

"Over the last few months I think India has again put Iran back on the focus of its diplomatic relations," Dadwal said. "Relations had really, I think, gone down to a large extent. But now it's back on track."

India's national security adviser⁵, M.K. Narayanan, confirmed Sunday that the Iranian leader would visit New Delhi "shortly." India favors diplomatic engagement with Iran, while the United States prefers an approach of isolating⁶ the Islamic republic in response to its nuclear ambitions.

Narayanan contends that India, as home to the world's second largest Shia Muslim population, should view its relationship with Iran as a domestic issue as much as it is a foreign policy matter.

Narayanan, in comments made to an international strategic forum⁷ in New Delhi, flatly rejected India joining any multi-national compact to pressure Iran over the nuclear issue. The national security adviser says India is better situated⁸ than any other nation to talk with Iran and New Delhi wants to avoid what he called "conflict diplomacy⁹."

India has another reason for deepening its long-standing relationship with Iran. With a booming economy and a serious shortage of energy, India hopes to tap Iranian natural gas through a planned 2700 kilometer pipeline that would transit¹⁰ Pakistan.

Talks among the three countries' petroleum¹¹ ministers concerning the multi-billion dollar pipeline project are due to resume Wednesday in Islamabad.

Analyst¹² Shebonti Ray Dadwal says the project, in the works for many years, still faces barriers before any gas would begin flowing through Pakistan to India.

"Officially the big hitch¹³ is pricing," Dadwal said. "They (Iran) had promised to sell it at a much lower price. Now they suddenly almost doubled the price. So that is a problem for India and Pakistan. Between India and Pakistan also the transit fee issue has yet to be resolved."

Another hitch, analysts¹⁴ say, is strong U.S. opposition¹⁵ to the project.

Also still pending¹⁶ is a deal for the export of five million tons of liquefied natural gas over 25 years from Iran to India. That contract, estimated to exceed $20 billion also faces a price dispute.

1 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

2 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

3 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

6 isolating   

adj.孤立的，绝缘的v.使隔离( isolate的现在分词 )；将…剔出（以便看清和单独处理）；使（某物质、细胞等）分离；使离析

参考例句：

• Colour filters are not very effective in isolating narrow spectral bands. 一些滤色片不能很有效地分离狭窄的光谱带。 来自辞典例句
• This became known as the streak method for isolating bacteria. 这个方法以后就称为分离细菌的划线法。 来自辞典例句

7 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

8 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

9 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

10 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

11 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

12 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

13 hitch   

v.免费搭(车旅行)；系住；急提；n.故障；急拉

参考例句：

• They had an eighty-mile journey and decided to hitch hike.他们要走80英里的路程，最后决定搭便车。
• All the candidates are able to answer the questions without any hitch.所有报考者都能对答如流。

14 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

15 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

16 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。