UNITED NATIONS, Jan 20: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has said in an interview that he will take up the issue of Iranian natural gas pipeline from Iran to India through Pakistan during his meeting with US President Bush on Tuesday.

He told the Wall Street Journal that the pipeline could play a central role in securing Pakistan’s energy needs and underpinning its peace overtures towards India.

The Bush administration has publicly opposed the project arguing that Tehran needed to be isolated to give up its nuclear programme.

Mr Aziz told the journal that Pakistan government’s representatives would meet Iranian and Indian officials in the next few weeks to discuss the project and said he believed that a “deal could be structured around US laws that forbid investment inside Iran”.

Earlier, the prime minister said that he had got a positive response from the business and political leaders on the Wall Street where he made a case for investment in Pakistan.

He shunned the stereotyping of Pakistani people as “Muslim fundamentalists” saying if people in the West go to church, it did not mean they were fundamentalists like Muslims in Pakistan who prayed five times a day. “We are a moderate and enlightened people in general,” he asserted.

Those attending the meeting included former US Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, former US Ambassador the United Nations Thomas Pickering and dozens of business leaders.

In interviews with various American publications and television networks Mr Aziz continued to assert that Pakistan considered the Bajaur attack a violation of Pakistani sovereignty.

He said: “Absolutely. We think it is a violation of Pakistani airspace. There is no evidence (to suggest that) anybody contacted the president or anybody in the government.”

He said people were unanimous in thinking that there was no way the United States should not have carried out the missile attack without at least communicating with President Musharraf.

Referring to Pakistan government’s action against Al Qaeda terrorists, he said: “I rang up Secretary Rumsfeld and asked him did he believe that President Musharraf and Pakistan were doing everything they could. He quoted Mr Rumsfeld as saying: “Pakistan is such a good friend of the US and had taken risks.” The premier said one had to be familiar with ground realities and look at the situation in a holistic way.

“We believe we are doing a lot and doing it out of conviction,” he said.

Asked by a television network if the recent attack had caused an increase in anti-Americanism, Mr Aziz said: “The reaction of people in Pakistan generally has been unfavourable.” Asked if his government had received any apology from the US, he replied in the negative, saying that he would discuss the matter when he met top US leadership in Washington to arrive at some understanding.

Responding to a question if terrorist could get control of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, he said: “We have a very strong command and control system in place. President Musharraf has ensured an effective security apparatus”.

About Dr A.Q. Khan, Mr Aziz said: “Khan is in protective custody and is not allowed to meet anybody. He is being investigated. What he really did was an individual act. Khan is not a nuclear expert. He is a metallurgist and a (nuclear) fuel expert. He was regarded as a hero because he created the perception that he was all in all. Moreover, he was regarded as father of Pakistan’s nuclear programme all over the world”.

“IAEA is fully aware of what information we have and so do all friendly countries,” he added.

Commenting on the proposed visit of President Bush to India in February, Mr Aziz said: “If India-US relations are good, why should we object? We think they can be of mutual benefit. We are of the view that the US leadership can exercise its influence on both the countries to resolve their issues so that much-needed peace can be ensured in the South Asian region.”

Referring to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Mr Aziz said there was no evidence to support such assertions. “Our view is very clear. We do not believe in proliferation at all. We do not think any country should proliferate and have nuclear weapons,” he added.

He said Pakistan decided to go nuclear only after India had exploded the bomb and “we concluded that it will upset the balance of power in South Asia”.

“We believe that peace is achieved through strength, not weakness and decided to go for a minimum deterrence.”

Addressing a gathering, Prime Minister Aziz praised the United Nations for rallying to help the people of Pakistan in the aftermath of the devastating Oct 8 earthquake.

Speaking before a meeting of the “roundtable on the UN response to the South Asian earthquake disaster in Pakistan,” he likened the UN to a large family where everyone helped if a member was affected.

President of the UN’s General Assembly Jan Eliasson said: “It is our common task to fund emergency relief operations (and) to ensure that the level of international support is maintained over a longer period of time, until the disaster struck areas have been rehabilitated and the affected people have been able to start rebuilding their lives.”

He said that the “objective of this roundtable is to sharpen the focus of the UN response to the devastating earthquake,” adding that the donor meeting in Geneva had so far resulted in pledges and commitments of about $320 million, which was 58 per cent of the requested $550 million in humanitarian aid for Pakistan.