Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 13
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived in Islamabad on Aug.13 after a two-day trip to Lebanon and Syria.
During his meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Zarif emphasized on strengthening bilateral cooperation in a post-sanction era, IRNA reported.
"We should eliminate the obstacles in mutual economic relations between Iran and Pakistan, made by the recent sanctions.
The Islamic Republic and the group 5+1 (the US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany) reached a long-awaited comprehensive deal called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on July 14.
One of the most important delayed project between two neighbor nations was the construction of the Peace Pipeline, aimed at exporting Iranian gas to Pakistan.
Iran has almost completed the section in its territory, but Pakistan hasn't started the construction so far. According to the contract, Pakistan should have imported Iranian gas since last year. However, earlier, Islamabad announced that the construction work for implementing the Peace Pipeline would start in September.
India is also keen to join the Peace Pipeline to get Iranian gas.
Pakistan also said that it is preparing for tenfold electricity import from Iran.
Pakistan's trade with Iran, worth $1.3 billion in 2008-20099, plummeted to $217 million in 2013-2014.
Pakistan currently imports about 100 megawatts of electricity from Iran.
Zarif will travel to India on Aug.14 as well.
India is Iran's biggest oil client after China, while Iran increased non-oil export to India by 34 percent during the last four months.
Iran exported in the amount of $913 million to India in the first four months of the current fiscal year, started on March 21, which shares 8.45 percent of Iran's total non-oil exports. However, Iran decreased imports from India by more than 46 percent during this period to $813 million, which shares 6.1 percent of Iran's total imports.
India also decreased Iranian oil purchase from 281,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 1H14 to 216,500 bpd in 1H15, which indicates a 22.9 percent decrease.