ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Pakistan and Russia on Friday signed an inter-governmental agreement for the construction of liquefied natural gas (LNG) pipeline project from Lahore to Karachi.
The ceremony was held in Islamabad on Friday at which Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was also present while the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak signed the agreement.
The 1,100 kilometer pipeline with a capacity of 12.4bcm per annum will connect LNG terminals of Karachi with those of Lahore.
Russia will make an investment of $2 billion in the project, the first phase of which will be completed by December 2017.
Since the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government came into power in May 2013, one of the major initiatives it took was its paradigm shift in Pakistan’s foreign policy.
Pakistan continues to strike deals in trade and defence sectors with Russia as well Central Asian countries with more intensity than before.
The Pakistani civil and military leadership’s visits to Russia and Central Asian nations have become a routine matter now. Recently, Pakistan also struck a defence cooperation deal with Russia under which Islamabad will buy MI-35 helicopters from Moscow.
In November, the Pakistani premier is also scheduled to undertake a state visit to Uzbekistan, the only Central Asian country where Sharif could not visit yet this year.
