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Pakistan on Wednesday confirmed that it would be pushing for a discussion on the proposed India-Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline during the forthcoming Indo-Pak talks scheduled between July 14 and July16.
The proposed gas pipeline will pass through Pakistan and is on the agenda of upcoming summit, Pakistan Petroleum Minster Usman Aminuddin said at the Pakistan embassy in Washington.
He said that the Pakistani petroleum ministry had already sent a comprehensive summary on the pipeline project to Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf.
He said Islamabad was interested in the project as the country would immensely benefit from it, adding that besides the foreign investment amounting to $700 million, the project would enable Pakistan to get gas for its own use.
The 2670 km long overland gas pipeline to be laid through Pakistan could fetch a whooping eight billion dollars in royalties, which Iran had already promised to Pakistan.
Reports in the Pakistani media suggest that besides the royalties, the project could fetch one billion dollars in taxes and five billion dollars as savings on getting gas supply at cheaper rates.
The staggering amounts of money offered in dollars could make a tremendous difference to cash-starved Pakistan economy, which is reeling under $37 billion foreign debt.
PTI
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