By: Shilpa Sharma
RUSSIA and Pakistan have signed an inter-governmental agreement to build the Pakistan Stream gas pipeline for transportation of gas from Karachi to Kasur in the Asian country, Russia’s energy ministry said on Friday (28).
The project, earlier called the North-South Pipeline, aims to carry 12.4 billion cubic metres of natural gas annually via a 1,100-km long pipeline.
Russian energy minister Nikolai Shulginov and Pakistan’s ambassador in Moscow Shafqat Ali Khan have signed the agreement.
“The relevant departments of our countries have done a lot of work on the preparation of this protocol, its signing will allow our companies to begin practical implementation of the project in the very near future, thereby helping the Pakistani side to strengthen its own energy security and increase the use of natural gas as an environmentally friendly source of energy, ” Shulginov said in a statement.
The Pakistan embassy in Russia said in a tweet, “Pakistan desires a strategic partnership with Russia and looks forward to enhanced bilateral relations in all fields of mutual interest.”
The two countries had signed an inter-governmental agreement on the project in 2015, but its implementation got postponed.
