Islamabad:  India and Pakistan today emphasised the importance of the economic and commercial viability of the proposed IPI gas pipeline as they discussed issues related to the multi-billion dollar project here.

At Foreign Secretary-level talks between Shivshankar Menon and his counterpart Salman Bashir, the two sides felt that the project should be viable economically and commercially.

Menon said the two sides discussed the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project as both need energy for economic development.

Both the sides stressed that the project should be viable economically and commercially in terms of assured supply of fuel and security, he said.

These aspects will require to be addressed and discussions in this regard will continue, Menon added.

Raising hopes on the finalisation of the much-delayed project, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during his visit to New Delhi last month had said that the three countries would conclude discussions within 45 days for the implementation of the 7.4 billion-dollar project.

"We have come to an agreement that (Oil) ministers of the three countries will meet and finalise the cases and give conclusion to the leadership of their governments within 45 days... Afterwards, we will decide," he had said.

The 2,600-km project that is to supply natural gas from the Persian Gulf to energy-hungry nations has been pending finalisation for more than four years because of differences over cost issues.

New Delhi had been boycotting trilateral talks on the project since mid-2007 saying it wanted to settle transit fee issues with Islamabad first.

Source : PTI