Tehran, Nov. 10 (afp): Iran and Pakistan have finalised a contract for a multi-billion-dollar gas export deal. The pact is scheduled to be signed within a month without third partner India, which is yet to settle transit fee issues with Islamabad.

“The content of the pipeline contract has been finalised and all the points prepared by legal experts have been re-read and agreed upon by the two sides,” Iran’s deputy minister in charge of the project, Hojatollah Ghanimifard, said.

The remaining points, which are technical issues, must be studied within a month to make the contract ready for signing, he added.

Talks on the $7.4-billion project to supply gas to India through a 2,600-kilometre pipeline began in 1994 but were stalled by tensions between India and Pakistan.

The talks resumed early in 2004 along with peace moves between India and Pakistan but dragged because of New Delhi’s opposition to periodic price reviews.

An early October agreement between Iran and Pakistan marked a breakthrough in the long-lasting talks.