Pak, India gas talks on 16th

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan and India 3rd Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting on multi-billion Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project is starting on December 16 (Friday) in New Delhi, a government official told reporters here on Wednesday.
He said that Secretary Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources, Ahmad Waqar, would leave for New Delhi on December 15 (today) along with three-member delegation included Rasheed Lone Managing Director Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL), Deputy Secretary Development and technical Director Inter State Gas Pipeline Limited (ISGPL).
He said that the JWG meeting would discuss Gas Reserve Certification and Allocation, Gas Quantity and Build-up, Gas Quality, System Configuration and Project Structure. Other matters of pipeline routing, delivery points, transportation tariff, transit fee, capital and operation costs and pipeline security would be discussed in the meeting, he said.
He said that in this meeting both countries would enter into framework agreement. He said that India would submit a draft text to the Pakistani side before the second meeting JWG.
He said that price issue would be taken during the upcoming meeting between the officials of the two countries, as India wanted to settle the price according to its affordability.
He said that various options to determine a reasonable price of gas and other options pertaining to project structure would discuss in this meeting.—Online