During a meeting with Sheikh Mansour in Abu Dhabi today, Iranian Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Mohammad Reza Fayyaz submitted the Iranian and Pakistani presidents' joint invitation to the Emirati official.
Ahmadinejad and Zardari had previously sent separate letters of invitation to UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum as well as other regional leaders to attend the ceremony.
The Iranian and Pakistani presidents are slated to inaugurate IP gas pipeline on March 11.
President Ahmadinejad will travel to Pakistan next week to attend the same ceremony.
On Thursday, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari wrapped up a two-day visit to Tehran during which the two sides finalized the remaining issues pertaining to the gas project.
During his stay in Tehran, the Pakistani president met Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei and his counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
During his meeting with Zardari, Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to the gas pipeline which is due to take Iran's rich gas reserves to Pakistan as a crucially important instance of Tehran-Islamabad cooperation, and called for ignoring the opposition shown by certain actors to the development of Iran-Pakistan relations.
He reminded Pakistan's urgent need to stable and secure energy resources, similar to every other country, and added, "They Islamic Republic of Iran is the only country in the region which enjoys secure energy resources and we are ready to supply Pakistan's need in this ground."
Last month, Iranian and Pakistani oil ministers inaugurated construction of the 781 km of Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline in Pakistan's soil.
An Iranian-Pakistani joint contractor has been commissioned to begin construction of the IP gas pipeline.
The Iranian oil minister and his accompanying delegation agreed with their Pakistani counterpart to set up a joint contracting company between the two countries in a bid to complete the construction of the IP gas pipeline in next 15 months.
The IP gas pipeline stretches from Iran-Pakistan border to Navabshah region in Pakistan and it covers 781 km of the total 1,881 km of the pipeline.
Apart from it, both countries also discussed the finances involved in the project. The interest rate for Iran's 500-million-dollar loan to Pakistan and the date for the start of the repayment of the loan by Pakistan were among other topics in the discussions.
Demand for natural gas in Pakistan has outstripped supply in recent years, putting existing reserves under immense pressure.
The 2700-kilometer long pipeline was to supply gas for Pakistan and India which are suffering a lack of energy sources, but India has evaded talks. In 2011, Iran and Pakistan declared they would finalize the agreement bilaterally if India continued to be absent in the meeting.
According to the project proposal, the pipeline will begin from Iran's Assalouyeh Energy Zone in the south and stretch over 1,100 km through Iran. In Pakistan, it will pass through Baluchistan and Sindh but officials now say the route may be changed if China agrees to the project.
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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari invited UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Presidential Affairs Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahayan to attend the inaugural ceremony of the construction of the Pakistani side of the IP gas pipeline next week.
News ID 184390
