Iran on Friday invited Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to Tehran for signing a tri-nation deal on natural gas, supply that could start from 2011. India's Petroleum Minister Murli Deora will meet his Pakistani counterpart to finalise remaining bilateral issues before the heads of the three nations meet in Tehran for signing the deal.
The meeting may take place by July end or August, Special Representative of Iranian Petroleum Minister H Ghanimi Fard told reporters after meeting Deora, according to Press Trust of India.
India and Pakistan yesterday reached an agreement on transportation tariff for gas pipeline from Iran. However, Iran sought last-minute changes in the agreement on pricing of natural gas that it is to supply India and Pakistan through a $7.4 billion pipeline even as New Delhi and Islamabad reached an agreement on transportation charges. At the tripartite official level talks here, Tehran sought insertion of a clause for revision in pricing formula every three years based on international fuel prices and energy mix, a stipulation that was opposed by India and Pakistan, says IINA quoting official sources.
India and Pakistan agreed on the price formula proposed by Iran that would be priced at $4.93 per million British thermal unit, and wanted it to remain the basis of pricing of natural gas for the entire 25 year duration of the supply contract.
The official level talks, possibly the last before a ministerial meeting next month for signing a final deal, are undergoing. The source also said India and Pakistan reached an agreement on the principle of computing the transportation charges payable to Islamabad for wheeling the gas through the 1,050 km section of the pipeline in that country. But, the issue of transit fee, payable to Islamabad for allowing passage of the pipeline to India, was not resolved as the officials decided the issue may be best left for the political leadership to discuss. The transportation tariff was purely an economic issue related to the cost involved in transmission of gas, transit fee was more of a political goodwill issue and the charges, many times waived, depend on agreement between the nations.