Summary President Zardari and Iran counterpart Monday attended the groundbreaking ceremony in Iran.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - The groundbreaking ceremony of Pak-Iran gas pipeline project is being held on Monday, despite the US warnings of possible sanctions.
President Asif Ali Zardari and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were present on the occasion along with other government officials.
A consortium will start work on $7.5 billion gas pipeline from Pakistan to Iran despite American warnings of possible sanctions.
The ceremony has marked the start of work by an Iranian-Pakistani consortium on the 781-kilometre pipeline earmarked for the Pakistani side of the border (till Nawabshah), which is said to cost some $1.5 billion.
The pipeline on the Iranian side has almost been completed.
Pakistan suffers from a crushing energy crisis, but the United States says it is providing Islamabad with alternative means to help avoid sanctions.
Pakistan would start receiving gas after completion of the project in December 2014.
Both the presidents also signed an accord for 400,000-barrel capacity oil refinery in Gwadar.
