We will make Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline: Gilani
19 February, 2012
LAHORE: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani asserted on Saturday that Pakistan would make the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, Tehran Times reported.
Pakistan is currently facing mounting pressure from the US to shelve the pipeline project, while both countries have already signed a sovereign-guarantee agreement on the project, the paper said.
Talking to the media in Karachi, the prime minister said that a rise in oil prices in Pakistan was due to a rise in the international prices and the global recession, and gave his assurance that the National Assembly speaker had formed a committee on the issue and would hold talks with the finance minister.
In view of the on-going trilateral meeting between Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan, Gilani said that it was "extremely important" for the stability of the region that all the neighbouring countries were in a good relationship with each other. "We want to have good relations with all our neighbours, be it China, Afghanistan, Iran or India," he added.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has also said that Pakistan is committed to completing the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project despite pressure from the United States. In a recent statement, President Asif Ali Zardari said Islamabad was determined to completing the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project, Khar told reporters.
She made the remarks at the end of the two-day trilateral meeting of the presidents of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Khar said Pakistan would not yield to any foreign pressure against its national interests, given the independent policies of Pakistan.
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