Pakistan underlines expedition of gas pipeline project with Iran

Pakistani officials underlined priority of the gas pipeline project with Iran, and rejected media reports about Islamabad's problems for financing the project. Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said that the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project is economically viable and Islamabad is facing no problems funding it. "Funding is not an issue for Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline project and there are sources available to arrange finances for the project," Rabbani Khar was quoted by the Nation as saying on Wednesday. Speaking in a joint press conference with her Swedish counterpart, Carl Bildt, in Islamabad, she said the Pakistani government will adopt any policy which will be in the country's best interest. Rabbani Khar also stated that Pakistan's Economic Coordination Committee has already set up a sub-committee "to look into the financing of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline and report to the committee." Earlier this month, Islamabad officials reiterated Pakistan's resolve to expedite its gas pipeline project with Iran despite the US pressures and warnings. Speaking at the Air University in the Pakistani province of Multan, Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said Islamabad will not give in to foreign pressures to abandon its joint gas pipeline project with Iran. Islamabad will make the decisions regarding the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline based on its own interests, Gilani added. 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. Last year Iran and Pakistan declared they would finalize the agreement bilaterally if India continued to be absent in the meetings. 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. The gas will be supplied from the South Pars field. The initial capacity of the pipeline will be 22 billion cubic meters of natural gas per annum, which is expected to be later raised to 55 billion cubic meters. It is expected to cost $7.4 billion.