Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline talks start sans India

25 September 2007

Mumbai: Iran and Pakistan have started talks on the $7.4 billion Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline in Tehran even as India said it would not attend the meeting unless the transit fee issue is resolved with Islamabad.

Iran had called a meeting of technical experts and lawyers from the three nations during 24 to 26 September to exchange views on the gas-supply contract that India and Pakistan, as consumers, would have to sign with fuel supplier Iran.

Officials of the three countries were to then discuss the issue on 27 September.

New Delhi and Islamabad have reached a broad understanding on the transportation tariff payable to Pakistan for wheeling natural gas through the 1,035-km pipeline segment of the proposed 2,600-km long pipeline project in that country, but the two nations have not yet arrived at any agreement on the issue.

"We have communicated to Iran''s petroleum ministry''s special representative H Ghanimi Fard and Pakistan''s petroleum secretary Farrakh Qayyum that we will not be attending the trilateral meeting unless bilateral issues are resolved with Pakistan," sources at India''s ministry of external affairs said.

Incidentally, a bilateral meeting of officials from India and Pakistan was scheduled in Islamabad last month but New Delhi cancelled appearance at the last minute citing "pressing urgencies at home."