http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-237/0809261885110920.htm
*Russia shows interest in Iran gas pipeline, says Pakistan * Islamabad, Sept 26, IRNA Pakistan-Russia-IPI Russian Foreign Minister Sergei V. Lavrov has shown keen interest in the multi billion dollar Iran-Pakistan- India (IPI) gas pipeline and said that Russian gas company Gazprom would be interested to participate in the project, officials said Thursday. Lavrov met Pakistani Foreign Minster Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi on the sidelines of the 63rd UN General Assembly session in New York and discussed IPI and other bilateral matters, a Foreign Ministry statement said. The Russian Foreign Minister observed that the two countries could cooperate in a number of sectors in the economic field. "These included energy, communications, gas pipeline projects, steel production and provision of defence equipment to Pakistan". IPI was also an important issue during the meeting of President Asif Ali Zardari and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who met in New York on Tuesday. The two leaders had agreed to speed up the pace to initiate work on pipeline and to set up a Joint Company to raise capital for the US 7.5 billion dollar project. The two sides agreed on a meeting of their two foreign ministers on October 9 and 10, besides setting up a committee of five senior officials from either side to finalize the project and coordinate activities. The two leaders during their meeting focused on the project and stressed the importance of early completion of the over 2700-km long IPI gas pipeline project that would bring in natural gas from the South Pars fields in Iran to Multan in Central Pakistan. The project is aimed at helping the country meet its energy shortages and the growing industrial sector in Pakistan. The two leaders had also discussed the import of additional 1000 MW of electricity from Iran, to meet the energy shortage in the country, particularly in Balochistan and expressed satisfaction over the pace of talks. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
