India, Pak PMs to discuss gas project

Pakistan and India will discuss gas pipeline from Iran during the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit.

Pakistan and India will discuss gas pipeline from Iran during the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit in Dhaka early next month, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said in an interview published on Thursday.

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Aziz told a US daily the 4.05-billion-dollar project would be a priority when he meets Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the fringes of a February 6-7 SAARC summit.

The Pakistani leader called the project a "win-win" that would provide for rapidly growing energy needs of Pakistan and India, and would reduce the "trust deficit" between the two countries, the US daily quoted Aziz as saying.

"I have always said that if we create mutual linkages and mutual dependencies, that helps the overall political framework."

Aziz said the offer of "an energy corridor through Pakistan to India" is justified by the increasing needs of both countries for imported energy.