ISLAMABAD, Dec 27: Pakistan has asked Iran to look into the possibility of joining the Qatari gas pipeline which will take the supply to Gwadar and onward to India, Dawn has learnt.

This was discussed during Iranian President Seyed Mohammad Khatami’s recent visit to Islamabad. The option to dovetail Iranian gas with the Qatari pipeline is expected to be discussed between the Pakistan officials and Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al-Thani in Islamabad on Saturday, sources said.

The two sides would also discuss bilateral economic cooperation and political issues in view of Qatar’s important position vis-a-vis the presence of US forces there. A meeting of the oil ministries of Qatar and Pakistan, and Crescent Petroleum of Sharjah would be held in Doha on Jan 27 to discuss technical aspects of the proposal, said a government source.

A delegation of the petroleum ministry comprising senior officials of the directorate-general of gas and Interstate Gas Company would visit Sharjah to hold separate discussions with the Crescent Petroleum, the sponsors of Qatar-Pakistan pipeline.

The proposal had recently been presented by Qatar’s Energy Minister Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiah to his Iranian counterpart Bijan Namdar Zanganeh and has since come under focus in the three countries.

Iran, sources said, was now more interested in the proposal after the failure of Italian firm Snamprogeti to complete the feasibility study for an Iran-India offshore pipeline.

Pakistan, sources said, was having second thoughts on its permission to Russian energy firm Gazprom to carry out the feasibility of the Iran-India overland gas pipeline following Russian president’s remarks against Pakistan’s nuclear programme.