Islamabad set for timely finish of Iran-Pakistan gas project
Economy - Pakistani Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani has once again reiterated Islamabad’s resolve to complete the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline on time despite pressures from the US.
Speaking to reporters in Karachi on Sunday, Gilani said “, we will definitely go ahead with the project.”
He made the remarks following the visit of Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Islamabad for trilateral talks with Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The multi-billion-dollar Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline deal, which was signed in June 2010, aims to export a daily volume of up to 21 million cubic meters of natural gas to Pakistan.
Last month, the International Herald Tribune reported that the US was trying to lure Islamabad away from the gas pipeline project by offering cheaper gas to the country.
On Saturday, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said Islamabad would not yield to any foreign pressure against its national interests, given the independent policies of Pakistan.
The maximum daily gas transfer capacity of the 56-inch pipeline, which runs over 900 km on Iran's soil from Asalouyeh in Bushehr Province to the city of Iranshahr in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, is said to stand at 110 million cubic meters.
Iran has already constructed more than 900 kilometers of the pipeline on its soil.
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