Pakistan has agreed to take India along on certain natural gas pipeline proposals it is considering apart the one from Iran, Indian Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said here Sunday.

"We have clearly understood that we share a common interest to source affordable fuel from our extended neighbourhood extending from the Caspian region to the Arabian Sea," said Aiyar while briefing reporters on the first day of the ministerial level talks here.

"(Pakistan Petroleum Minister) Amanullah Khan Jadoon has agreed to India's formal request to join the next joint commission meeting on the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) pipeline project to be held in Ashgabat perhaps in July," Aiyar said.

He said Pakistan is keen on knowledge sharing on the project, "given the shared interests of buyers" seeking sustained supply of natural gas to meet their growing energy needs.

India and Pakistan Sunday formally began the first bilateral engagement to move forward with the proposed tri-nation gas pipeline from Iran even as Islamabad is negotiating with Qatar and Turkmenistan for import of natural gas.

"We have agreed on a few issues and agree that both countries need more gas to push ahead with economic growth," Jadoon told reporters after a 40-minute one-to-one meeting with Aiyar ahead of their two-day talks.

While India has agreed to share with Pakistan the study it has commissioned by BHP Billiton on the Iran gas pipeline as well as a compendium of international best practices, Pakistan would be sharing its preliminary study on sourcing gas from Turkmenistan.

Aiyar said Pakistan has made it known "that it intends to keep Dec 31 as the deadline for a decision on the proposed Iran pipeline" even as it is moving ahead with study of other options.

A joint communiqué is likely to be issued after the official-level talks conclude Monday evening. Aiyar is likely to call on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf when he returns here Monday after a visit to Qatar to seek supply of natural gas through a 1,186 km pipeline.

As a follow-up to the talks with India, Pakistan has invited Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh for discussions, Aiyar said.

On the major issues being discussed, Aiyar said the aim is to "resolve trilateral issues in the bilateral agreements being worked out between Iran and Iran and separately between Iran and Pakistan."

With issues like security concerns, the transit and security costs besides other techno-commercial details still to be worked out, Aiyar said, "There may be need for an overarching agreement between the three partner countries."

A joint feasibility study is likely to be undertaken on the pipeline project.

India has so far held five rounds of official level talks with Iran and two rounds of ministerial discussions, with the third one slated to be held during Aiyar's visit to Tehran June 11-13 after a visit to Azerbaijan to discuss possibilities of energy supplies.

Aiyar's Iran visit will also mark the signing of the sale-purchase agreement on import of 5-7.5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas.

On his five-day visit to Pakistan, which included a trip down the memory lane to the house in Lahore where he was born, Aiyar is scheduled to call on Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Monday.

He would also meet ministers of commerce and education and the chief of the National Reconstruction Bureau that deals with local self-government issues. Aiyar is also the minister for panchayati raj.

The high-level delegation accompanying Aiyar to Pakistan includes chief executives of state-owned companies IndianOil Corporation and GAIL (India) Ltd.

Pakistan does not allow the import of petroleum products from India. Its imports come from countries like Kuwait on concessional terms.

Aiyar, during his talks with Pakistan Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar, would take up the issue of removing these items from the negative list.