Ahmadinejad clears way for pipe deal
News wires
Iran and Pakistan are ready to sign a deal for a $7.6 billion gas pipeline
which will carry Iranian gas to Pakistan and India, following President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Islamabad today.
The project to pipe gas to India and Pakistan was discussed when Ahmadinejad
stopped briefly to meet Pakistani leaders before flying on for an official
visit to Sri Lanka. He is due to arrive in India tomorrow.
"A good thing that came out of the meeting is that both sides reiterated that
the gas pipeline will promote peace and friendship between the two
countries," Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told Reuters.
"And they recognised that all outstanding issues have been resolved and
Iranian president will soon invite Pakistani president to visit Tehran where
an agreement will be signed."
If all goes well, construction could start next year and the pipeline could
be completed by 2012.
It would initially transport 60 million cubic metres of gas per day to
Pakistan and India, half for each country, but capacity would be raised
later to 150 MMcmd.
Pakistani officials also put forward another pipeline project, designed to
carry gas from Iran to China, during today's talks.
During a visit lasting just a few hours, Ahmadinejad met President Pervez
Musharraf before holding talks with new Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza
Gillani whose government was sworn in a month ago.
The visit came hard on the heels of talks between the Indian and Pakistani oil
ministers. The Pakistani minister said terms, such as transit fees, could be
finalised in days or weeks.
The project has been discussed for years, but was given a new lease of life
after India and Pakistan embarked on a peace process in 2004.
Pakistan and Iran have previously said they would go ahead with the project
even if India opted out. New Delhi had dropped out of trilateral talks in
mid-2007, saying it wanted to resolve issues with Pakistan first.
The project has been dubbed the "Pipeline for Peace and Progress" because of
the mutual benefits it will bring to India and Pakistan, two countries that
have fought three wars since they were divided by the partition of India in
1947.
The United States has tried to discourage India and Pakistan from any deal
with Iran in the past because of Tehran's suspected ambitions to build
nuclear arms. Iran denies any such ambitions.
28 April 2008 12:32 GMT
| last updated:
28 April 2008 12:34 GMT
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