Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, who is also Pakistan's deputy prime minister, told reporters in Islamabad on Tuesday that Pakistan is determined to meet its rising energy needs based on national interests.
He emphasized that any move to advance Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline will be decided by the Pakistani government and that Islamabad will never accept foreign dictation.
The gas pipeline is a proposed 1,900-kilometer pipeline project designed to deliver natural gas from Iran's South Pars gas field to Pakistan. Iran says it has constructed the pipeline on its side of the border, making it ready to export.
The United States has threatened Pakistan with sanctions if it goes ahead with a plan to build the pipeline to import gas from Iran.
In February, Islamabad approved the construction of an 80-kilometer section of the pipeline to avoid having to pay Iran some $18 billion in penalties for years of delays.
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