Final accord on IPI pipeline soon: Pakistani envoy

The final agreement on the $7 billion Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline is likely to be reached in next few weeks, Pakistan's ambassador to Iran Shafkat Saeed has said.
"We are proceeding on the basis that this agreement will come through because the three countries have come to an agreement on the price and structure of the pipeline. But still there are some issues remaining to be sorted out, which we hope will be done in the next few weeks or so," the ambassador said in a recent interview with Iran's daily Kayhan International.
About pricing formula, the ambassador said it was linked to the international price of crude, which goes on fluctuating. If at a time the international price of crude goes up, say from $60 to $75, the price of gas will also go up proportionately, he said.
Shafkat Saeed said the transit fee between Pakistan and India had reached no agreement yet with the authorities in India, but hoped that an agreement would be settled soon. He said each country was laying the pipeline in its own territory and would be responsible for its security.
Referring to the proposed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, the ambassador said it was in Pakistan's interest to get energy supply from Central Asian countries.
The ambassador said Pakistan is trying to raise bilateral trade with Iran to one billion dollar from the existing $650 million by the year's end. The ambassador said Pakistan exports around $200 million worth of goods to Iran namely textiles, leather, garments, sports goods, surgical goods and parts of machinery.
As for Iran's exports to Pakistan, it includes oil (a major share of around $200m), oil products, chemicals, carpets, rugs, pistachio and other items, he said. Shafkat Saeed said to facilitate bilateral trade, two Pakistani banks would open their branches in Iran while Bank Melli had been invited to open its branches in Pakistan.
Regarding illegal immigrants, he said the Interior Ministries of Pakistan and Iran were co-operating and substantial decrease had been observed. He said the 970-km borderline with Iran was very difficult to control but efforts were underway.