NEW DELHI, July 12: India and Pakistan reported good progress here on Tuesday in the first meeting of their joint working group on the Iran gas pipeline project, saying they were determined to make a success of it.

Pakistan’s Petroleum Secretary Ahmad Waqar, leading an eight-member delegation to the two-day talks, told reporters that his country was looking at the Iran project as one of the principal sources of sustained and affordable gas supply needed for the country’s projected economic growth.

A senior Indian official involved in the talks told Dawn that both countries agreed during their first structured discussions on the issue that they had little to choose from in their urgent need to fuel their growing economies. “The economic growth projected in both countries propels us to go for this project. This is now absolutely clear,” he said.

“Both sides stressed that the $4 billion venture was not only feasible but also crucial for their economic growth pegged to move at 8 to 9 per cent, no less.”

Pakistani officials explained that Islamabad’s current refrain of “national interest” as the guiding principle on the project was another way of actually emphasizing the economic importance of the project.

The affirmations from both sides appeared to indicate the brief the two prime ministers would be carrying to Washington later this month when they meet President George W. Bush.

At Tuesday’s meeting Mr Waqar and his Indian counterpart, Mr S.C. Tripathi were assisted by senior foreign ministry officials indicating the importance attached to the issue. Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesman and point-person for India, Mr Jalil Abbas Jilani and Mr Dilip Sinha, the Indian diplomat heading Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran desks assisted the talks.

At the talks, India formally communicated its interest also in joining the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan pipeline project. Officials on both sides however said that there was considerable uncertainty surrounding the exact quantum of gas available from Turkmenistan to be supplied to the TAP project. An official survey report from Turkmenistan is overdue, Pakistani officials said.

Mr Jilani said Tuesday’s talks had dealt with four key aspects of the Iran project. They include technical, commercial, financial and legal issues. There was also discussion on the timeline for the project as both sides agreed there could not be an open-ended deadline.

“Discussions were very positive and there was a wide convergence of views,” Mr Jilani said. Mr Waqar told reporters that the gestation period for the Iran project was around five years, mainly devoted to paperwork which is always enormous in such matters. The two nations will issue a joint statement on Wednesday that may detail a broad framework for implementation of the project and set milestones to see Iranian gas fire Pakistani and Indian economy by 2009-10.

Tuesday’s discussions would be refined in a joint statement to be issued at the end of the two-day meeting.