ISLAMABAD: As Iran is about to sign a nuclear deal, Pakistan will also get the benefit of that in shape of Pak-Iran natural gas pipeline which is expected to be built by China.
According to Wall Street Journalist, the agreement of building the pipeline will be signed when Chinese president Xi Jinping will pay a visit to Pakistan.
The pipeline would amount to an early benefit for both Pakistan and Iran from the framework agreement reached earlier this month between Tehran and the U.S. and other world powers to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
The U.S. had previously threatened Pakistan with sanctions if it went ahead with the project.
Dubbed the “Peace Pipeline,” the project will further bolster improving ties between Pakistan and Iran, which had been uneasy neighbors for decades as a result of Pakistan’s ties to Iran’s long-term adversaries, Saudi Arabia and the U.S.
“We’re building it,” Pakistani Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi told The Wall Street Journal, referring to the pipeline. “The process has started.”
Pakistan has been negotiating for months behind the scenes for China to build the Pakistani portion of the pipeline, which will cost up to $2 billion.
Tehran says that its 560-mile (900-kilometer) part of the pipeline from an Iranian gas field is complete. Iran has long pressed Pakistan to build its half of the scheme.
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