'Pipeline to help Indo-Pak meet energy needs'

New Delhi, Apr 4: Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz today said the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline will greatly help India and Pakistan to meet their energy requirements and bring peace and prosperity in the region.

The Prime Minister was talking to Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, who called on him here on the sidelines of 14th SAARC Summit.

Mr Aziz said Pakistan was determined to make the IPI project a success. It was the first of many projects Pakistan planned to undertake.

Also there wass a vast potential of cooperation between the two countries in the areas of LNG and petro-chemicals, he added.

Mr Aziz said the launch of IPI project would be a great Confidence Building Measure (CBM) and a gift for the future generations of the two countries.

The project, he said, was testimony of the desire of India and Pakistan to work in a sprit of cooperation.

He said Pakistan was committed to take steps to ensure safety and security of the pipeline and uninterrupted gas supply to India.

Prime Minister Aziz said as a result of high growth achieved by Pakistan during the last few years, the energy demands have significantly increased and the government is making all out efforts to bridge the gap between the demand and supply.

He said in the gas sector Pakistan was focusing on enhancing indigenous capacity and the import of gas through commercially feasible projects.

UNI