ISLAMABAD, May 23: No tangible progress was made during the Iran-Pakistan-India Joint Working Group’s meeting but officials were hopeful about the signing of a trilateral draft declaration in the next meeting scheduled to be held in July in New Delhi.

Pakistan’s Secretary Petroleum Ahmad Waqar, Indian Petroleum Secretary M.S. Srinivasan, Iranian Deputy Oil Minister M.H. Hosseinian led their respective sides.

At a joint news conference at the end of the two-day talks, Mr Ahmad Waqar said the group discussed commercial, legal and financial issues of the project in a “frank and friendly atmosphere”.

He said there was a broad convergence of views on the project structure and further details of the project structure would be worked out by their respective consultants.

The three sides could not reach an agreement on gas price. Mr Waqar said Iran presentation its gas pricing formula while Pakistan and India also made their presentations.

He said India and Pakistan believed that the gas price should be reasonable and affordable for their respective markets. Hence, it was agreed that the gas pricing “required further study” and hoped to finalise a deal in July in India.

The group agreed that project required proper coordination for which consultants would prepare a request for proposal to coordinate and oversee the project’s implementation. The joint working group also agreed to exchange a draft joint declaration within a week and then sign it in July after approval from the respective governments.

Commenting about US pressure on Pakistan and India, Mr Waqar said Pakistan’s leaders had repeatedly stated that Pakistan needed energy to sustain high growth rates and Iran was a source of energy. Hence, Pakistan would implement the project either on bilateral or trilateral basis.