Defence Minister Khawaja Asif stated that “Pakistan is in a position to complete [gas] pipeline project with Iran, and makes decision regarding it” before to Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi’s visit this month.
Asif stated, “We are building gas pipeline on our side from Gwadar to the Iranian border,” during Monday’s Capital Talk segment of Geo News.
According to a story published in The News earlier this month, Pakistan started building the 80 km portion of the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline from Gwadar to a location where it can be joined to the Iranian portion of the project.
The announcement coincided with the United States’ overt hostility to the bilateral project, which has endured nearly ten years of scrutiny, as well as warnings of possible sanctions.
It was supposed to be finished by December 2014 and put into use in January 2015.
In the midst of ongoing tensions in the Middle East after Iran’s unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel, Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi is scheduled to visit Pakistan on April 22, sources said Geo News earlier today.
The sources claim that Islamabad and Tehran have reached an agreement on the issues surrounding President Raisi’s visit. President Raisi, who will be accompanied by a high-ranking team, is scheduled to meet with the military leadership, President Asif Ali Zardari, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
