ISLAMABAD, June 9: Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri has welcomed the statement of his Indian counterpart Natwar Singh that India is ready to enter a proposed trilateral gas pipeline project if Pakistan gives international guarantees for its security.

Talking to India's High Commissioner Shivshanker Menon, who called on him at the Foreign Office here on Wednesday, Mr Kasuri said that Pakistan would be glad to give the required guarantees and added that the two sides could meet soon to work out modalities in this regard.

The minister said that the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline would not only benefit India, which is energy deficient, but also Pakistan and Iran and the entire region. The project, he pointed out, would have a positive impact on the efforts of the two governments to promote economic development in their countries.

Mr Kasuri said he was encouraged by the assurances given by Mr Singh that the Congress government would go further than the last NDA government in promoting peace with Pakistan.

He said President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali were committed to the peace process and added that he was happy to note positive statements of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi.

Mr Menon, who had recently returned from New Delhi after consultations with the leaders of the new government, said the Congress government remained committed to a sustained dialogue process with Pakistan and wanted to carry it forward.

Mr Kasuri told Mr Menon that he was looking forward to meeting Mr Singh when he would visit Islamabad on July 20-21 to attend a meeting of the Saarc council of ministers. He welcomed telephone calls from Mr Singh in which he had spoken optimistically about the future of bilateral ties.