India and Pakistan Friday reiterated their commitment to a
project to build a pipeline to transport gas from Iran, and said
further talks would be held by the three countries in Islamabad and
Tehran next month.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in a statement in
Indian parliament that India remained committed to the project, and
visiting Pakistani Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister
Amanullah Khan echoed similar sentiments later in the day.
"In fact all three countries involved in the project are
committed to the pipeline project. There are, however, certain
technical aspects still to be worked out," Indo-Asian News Service
quoted Khan as saying.
Khan said though a lot of progress had been made during
bilateral meetings among the three countries, efforts were still
being made to cover all the outstanding technical, financial, legal
and social issues.
The two countries said in a joint statement that a trilateral
technical sub-group meeting would be held in Islamabad next month,
and this would be followed by a trilateral meeting of officials in
Tehran March 13-15.
After the first tripartite official meeting, "the ministers of
the three countries will meet in Tehran in April to address
outstanding issues," Indian Natural Gas and Petroleum Minister
Deora said.
On the issue of pricing and project structure, the two main
issues discussed during Friday's meeting, Khan said the
international best practices would be used in determining the
pricing of gas while technical experts of the three countries would
firm up the project structure.
(Xinhua News Agency February 18, 2006)
