ISLAMABAD: Pakistani foreign office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said on Monday an agreement recently signed between Pakistan and Russia for a flagship gas pipeline would strengthen economic cooperation, as Pakistan’s former adversary attempts to build military, diplomatic and economic ties that could upend historic alliances in the South Asian region and open up a fast-growing gas market for Moscow’s energy companies.
On Friday, Russia’s energy ministry said Russia and Pakistan signed an agreement to build the Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline.
The project, earlier called the North-South Pipeline but recently renamed the Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline Project, will deliver gas from Pakistan’s coastal regions to industrial areas in the north and will boost the country’s capacity to internally transport imported liquefied natural gas (LNG).
It was held up since 2015 due to a disagreement over fees and United States sanctions against Russian state conglomerate Rostec.
“Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline Project is a manifestation of deepening trust and mutual desire to enhance cooperation between Pakistan and Russia,” Chaudhri wrote on Twitter. “In addition to meeting Pakistan’s growing energy demands, the project will help strengthen Pakistan-Russia economic cooperation.”
Last November, Russian officials visited Pakistan for three-day-long negotiations to finalize work on the project, the biggest infrastructure deal with Russia since the early 1970s when the Soviet Union set up the Pakistan Steel Mills industrial complex at Port Qasim, near Karachi. The project was also a main topic of discussion during Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov’s two-day trip to Islamabad last month.
