Thursday, December 15 2005 16:12 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Ruling out any difference with Iran over the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project, Government today (Dec 15, 2005) said the project structure and the framework agreement would be finalised by early next year.

"There are no differences between India and Iran over the gas pipeline project", Union Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said in the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

Government is discussing the details of the IPI project with the governments of Iran and Pakistan and the discussions are progressing satisfactorily, he said.

Two separate, secretary-level Joint Working Groups; India-Pakistan JWG and India-Iran special JWG, have been constituted for this purpose, the minister said adding two meetings of each of these groups have already taken place.

"It is envisaged that the project structure and the Framework Agreement for the project will be finalised by early next year," Aiyar said.

Replying to another question, he said a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between India and Turkey to establish the basis for an institutionalised cooperative relationship between the two in the hydrocarbon sector.