ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Iran are set to sign a “finalised gas tariff” with reference to the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project without India this week, officials said. “The finalisation of the gas tariff in reference to the IPI project would be decided next week (starting Monday) in a meeting to be held in Abu Dhabi,” a senior Pakistani government official told the Asian Age newspaper. The meeting will be attended by ministerial level officials without India, he added. Sources in Pakistan’s ministry of petroleum said the caretaker federal petroleum minister Ahsanullah Khan will represent Pakistan at the meet. Earlier, President Pervez Musharraf had been tipped off as the possible signatory to the historical deal during his forthcoming European trip, but there was a change of plan. The event was delayed due to the mourning month of Muharram and was rescheduled for the current week starting Monday. “Although the event would be held sans Indian participation, yet India will be welcome to join the show anytime afterwards,” the official said. The gas project is being developed to bring gas from the Iranian South Pars gas field via land to Pakistan and India. A term sheet was signed between Iran and Pakistan in 2005 for the supply of 2 BCFD of natural gas for a period of 30 years. An agreement on the gas pricing formula was reached last year under which each country would build the pipeline in its respective territory. The deal effectively removed any obstacle to the signing of a three-way agreement on building the 2,300-km IPI pipeline with an estimated price tag of 7.5 billion dollars.—Agencies