Rouhani to pay visit to Pak to push for IP gas pipeline

Iran President Hassan Rouhani is scheduled to pay visit to Pakistan, by the end of this month to push for the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project, following the lifting of sanctions from his country.

The project was to be commissioned in December 2014, but work was stalled after sanctions were placed on Tehran.

Hasan Rouhani will lead a high level delegation to Pakistan this month to strengthen bilateral relations.

Iran had wanted some form of commitment from Pakistan, which was given in the form of awarding the LNG pipeline contract, reports Dawn.

Iran had wanted some form of commitment from Pakistan, which was given in the form of awarding the LNG pipeline contract.

Rouhani will take up the issue during his visit to Islamabad, adding that Pakistan had committed to completing the project after sanctions are lifted.

Any delay on part of Pakistan in the post-sanction scenario would result in millions of dollars being imposed as penalty, besides upsetting diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The standalone project of LNG Gwadar pipeline was feasible as the country required the pipeline capacity to pump LNG. A terminal at Gwadar would also help to import LNG.

The Finance Ministry of Pakistan instead suggested to borrow around Rs100 billion from commercial banks.