Islamabad – Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has vowed to complete a gas pipeline project with Iran “at any cost.”

According to IRIB, in a meeting with visiting Iran’s Vice President for International Affairs Ali Saeedlou in Islamabad on Tuesday, Zardari added that Pakistan is committed to the implementation of the million-dollar gas pipeline at the earliest as the plan is crucial for his country’s energy needs.

The Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project is meant to export a daily amount of 21.5 million cubic meters (8.7 billion cubic meters per year) of the Iranian natural gas to Pakistan.

The maximum daily gas transfer capacity of the 56-inch pipeline, which runs over 900 km on Iran's soil from Asalouyeh in Bushehr Province to the city of Iranshahr in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, is said to stand at 110 million cubic meters.

The Pakistani president noted that his country seeks to carry forward the proposed projects of the 1,000-MW Taftan-Quetta power transmission line and the 100-MW Gwadar power supply.

Zardari also thanked the Iranian government for pledging $100 million assistance for the rehabilitation of flood-hit people in Pakistan.