Indo-Pak talks on tri-nation gas pipeline postponed till Pakistan elections

NEW DELHI, Feb 6 (KUNA) — India has postponed talks with Pakistan on the issue of transit fee for the tri-nation multi-billion dollar Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, till elections are held by Islamabad. Indias Petroleum Minister Murli Deora was scheduled to lead a high- level delegation for talks in Islamabad on February 7-8 on an invitation from his Pakistani counterpart Ahsan Ullah Khan but postponed his trip till the February 18 elections, a source in the Indian Petroleum Ministry told reporters here Wednesday. A trilateral meeting, scheduled to be held in Tehran on February 12-13 to finalise the pipeline deal, was also now uncertain, the source said. Deora could visit Islamabad in March and thereafter Tehran to finalise the pipeline deal. New Delhi would also seek to evolve a common approach of gas buyers (India and Pakistan) to Iran’s request for a change in the price revision clause in the deal, the source said. Tehran wants price revision every five years.
New Delhi and Islamabad have reached an understanding on the transportation tariff payable to Pakistan for getting the gas from Iran. But they are yet to reach an agreement on the transit fee payable to Pakistan. Pakistan is seeking 0.493 dollars per million British thermal unit as transit fee, while India Delhi has offered 0.15 dollars per mbtu. The 2,300-km-long pipeline will initially carry 60 million standard cubic meters of gas a day, divided between India and Pakistan equally