"We have never said that we are pulling out of the IPI project. We are part of the project and will continue pursuing import of gas from Iran through the three-nation pipeline," Petroleum Secretary M S Srinivasan said in New Delhi.

Iran last week said it will by October-end sign a pact with Pakistan to sell gas through a bilateral pipeline in the absence of India joining the Iran-Pakistan-India gas line.

Even before last week's technical and official level talks in Tehran on the pipeline, India had informed Iran that it would not attend such meetings till it clinched an agreement with Pakistan on the transit fee issue.

"We have told Iran clearly that we want to settle the transit fee issue with Pakistan before signing a tri nation pipeline deal," he said.

Iran and Pakistan, however, ignored India's concerns and went ahead with the talks.

New Delhi and Islamabad had reached an understanding on the transportation tariff payable to Pakistan for wheeling gas through the 1,035-km pipeline segment in that country, but the two nations have not yet arrived at any agreement on payment of a separate transit fee to Pakistan for using its territory.

"We hope to settle the transit fee issue with Pakistan after their Presidential elections. Once we do that, we will go to Tehran for a tri-nation pact," Srinivasan said.

Srinivasan said even Pakistan was informed of India's concern on reaching an agreement on transit fee before any tri-nation pact on pipeline.

Iran had called a meeting of technical experts and lawyers from the three nations during September 24 26 to exchange views on the gas-supply contract that India and Pakistan, as consumers, would have to sign with fuel supplier Iran. Officials of the three countries were to then discuss the issue on September 27.

"We had communicated to Iran's Petroleum Ministry's Special Representative Hojatollah Ghanimi-Fard and Pakistan's Petroleum Secretary Farrakh Qayyum that we will not be attending the trilateral meeting unless bilateral issues are resolved with Pakistan," he said.

Besides the issue of transit fee, India and Pakistan would also have to finalise between them the response to Iran's request for 'price revision' clause in the pipeline pact.

At the last trilateral meeting in New Delhi in June, Iran wanted gas price to be revised every five years, a clause opposed by both India and Pakistan. India and Pakistan had agreed to a crude oil-linked pricing formula proposed by Tehran but resisted insertion of revision clause.

India and Pakistan are to sign separate gas purchase agreements with Iran and will take deliveries of gas at Iran-Pakistan border. India will separately enter into an agreement with Pakistan for transporting gas through its territory.

The pipeline would be laid in the three nations separately. Iran would lay a 1,100-km pipeline from the Persian Gulf to the Iran-Pakistan border, while Pakistan would lay a 1,035 km from its border with Iran to the Indian border.