Iran and Pakistan have agreed to invest USD 718 million to establish a power transmission line through which Iran will export electricity to Pakistan, its neighbour to the east. Mr Majid Namjou, Iran’s energy minister, said that some USD 500 million will probably be taken out of Iran’s National Development Fund to finance the project.
Mr Asif Zardari, Pakistan’s president, in a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Islamabad, reiterated his government’s commitment to expeditious implementation of a 1000 MW electricity transmission line as well as an Iran – Pakistan gas pipeline project.
Mr Zardari also set out to allay Iranian apprehensions about the Iran and Pakistan gas pipeline project in the face of pressure from the USA to abandon it. He reiterated the country’s commitment to resist that pressure and was adamant that work on the project would be expedited, aiming at completion by 2015.
