Pakistan and Russia have finalised a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for conducting a “feasibility study” of a planned undersea gas pipeline.
While speaking at the weekly media briefing, Foreign Office (FO) spokesman Muhammad Faisal said on Thursday: “The ministries of energy of Pakistan and the Russian Federation have finalised a MoU for conducting feasibility study for implementation of undersea gas pipeline project,” Dawn news reported.
The undersea gas pipeline project would eventually involve four countries – Pakistan, Iran, Russia and India.
The project has been under discussion since last year.
“The purpose of the MoU is to assist in providing support for the realisation of the project. Based on the results of the feasibility study, the two sides will take a decision for its future,” the spokesman said.
Russia, he added, had been keen on promoting energy cooperation with Pakistan as the two countries strengthened their ties.
“The two countries have concluded various proposals in the energy sector, including construction of North-South Gas Pipeline, import of LNG from Russia, installation of air mix plant and establishing a 600MW combined cycle power plant,” Dawn news quoted Faisal as saying.
Responding to a question, he denied that the new project would replace the stalled Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project.
“The IP gas pipeline is a separate project,” he added.