NEW DELHI, Nov 24: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told India on Wednesday that Pakistan would go ahead with the construction of a gas pipeline from Iran even if India were not interested in it.

He told reporters that Pakistan in any case needed secure gas supplies for its projected economic growth and if India wished to meet its own energy requirements from other sources, it was free to go ahead.

Later, in an address to Indian businessmen Mr Aziz said the proposed gas pipeline could become an important confidence-building measure but insisted it could not be linked to other issues. "To begin with, the gas pipeline project could be a huge and successful CBM," he said, but added: "We envisage this to be a stand alone project of great significance."

India and Pakistan could gain a lot by cooperating in the field of energy, Mr Aziz said. "We can offer India an energy corridor, if it so wants. We could promote tourism and trade and many other areas of business."

Indian sources told Dawn the comments by Mr Aziz that Pakistan could go it alone were aimed at his domestic audience. "It would not go down too well with Pakistanis if their government sold the project as one that would benefit India more."

Mr Aziz's remarks appeared to be in response to a new Indian view that links the gas pipeline with overall progress in ties, including the granting of MFN status to New Delhi by Islamabad.

India Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said the $4.16 billion project would have to be considered as part of a wider economic and trade cooperation between New Delhi and Islamabad.

"The project cannot be looked at in isolation," the Press Trust of India quoted Mr Aiyar as saying after a meeting with Mr Aziz. Mr Aiyar said the wide economic and trade cooperation included Pakistan granting India Most Favored Nation status and allowing New Delhi to use its territory as transit for sourcing gas from Central Asia.

Foreign Secretary Riyaz Khokkar said the Iran-India gas pipeline passing through Pakistan was "a major confidence building measure not just for the two countries but for the whole region, including Iran."

Iran has been pursuing the pipeline proposal, which will save India millions of dollars in energy cost, with New Delhi and Islamabad since 1996, but tensions between the two nations have blocked progress. Mr Aziz told a meeting organized by Indian businessmen that India and Pakistan needed to move from tactical to strategic discussions.