Iranian oil minister to visit Pakistan for talks on gas pipeline

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh would visit Pakistan on June 20 and 21 to discuss the proposed 4-billion-US-dollar Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project, Foreign Office spokesman Jalil Abass Jilani said Monday at a weekly news briefing.

Zanganeh's visit follows the talks between Indian Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar and his Pakistani counterpart Amanullah Khan Jadoon and Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz last week.

Jilani said during their meetings in Islamabad, the Pakistani and Indian oil ministers agreed to set up a joint working group to discuss all the aspects of the project including technical, financial and pricing issues.

He noted that Aiyar also evinced desire of his country to be associated with other projects of the proposed Qatar-Pakistan and Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan gas pipelines.

Jilani said Pakistani petroleum secretary was leaving for Qatar to discuss the Qatar-Pakistan gas pipeline project while a trilateral meeting of Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan was also scheduled to be held next month in Turkmenistan.

Referring to US opposition to the Iran-Pakistan-India project, Jalani said Pakistan was aware of the US concerns about the Iranian gas pipeline project, but he reiterated that Islamabad would take a decision that suited its national interest.

Source: Xinhua