ISLAMABAD, March 9: A working group of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan would meet in Ashkabad later this month to discuss various issues hampering progress on the proposed gas pipeline to Pakistan from the central Asian country.

A petroleum ministry official on Friday said that the meeting had been delayed because of the death of the former Turkmen president and subsequent presidential elections. He said the dates were being finalised for the secretary-level moot.

The official said the capital cost of the 1,435-km-long pipeline had been updated to about $4 billion from $3.3 billion in 2003. The pipeline will run 145-km in Turkmenistan, 735-km in Afghanistan and 555-km in Pakistan to Multan via Heart and Kandahar.

The official said the Asian Development Bank (ADB) was also working on northern route on Indian request that should pass through Mazar-i-Sharif, Kabul and Peshawar to Lahore for onward extension to Indian city of Bikaner.

In the upcoming meeting, two major milestones would be achieved. Pakistan will table a draft gas sales and purchase agreement (GSPA) and Turkmenistan will make a formal offer on gas pricing for the project. The three countries will also consider whether or not to include India in the project following a formal Indian request on the subject. ADB is facilitating the meeting while India is expected attend as an observer.

The meeting would also discuss the issue of gas reserves availability.