Pakistan and Iran have signed a memorandum of understanding to undertake a pre-feasibility study for a proposed 2600km Iran–India gas pipeline after a second day of talks on the project. Under the plan, natural gas would be transferred from southern Iran via a 1600km pipeline to Sindh province in Pakistan and on to India through a 1000km line. Plans for such pipelines have been discussed for more than a decade, but experts have said progress has been impeded by regional political problems, especially the simmering hostility between Pakistan and India. Islamabad and Tehran have also agreed to discuss the feasibility of a joint Iran-Pakistan oil refinery to be built on Pakistan’s coast.
