Pakistan, Iran to expedite gas, power projects

Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has agreed with Iranian President Mehmoud Ahmadinejad to expedite  the import of 1000MW electricity from Iran.

Pakistan is facing an acute shortage of energy which was hampering its economic growth.

During a meeting at the President House, the two leaders also agreed to enhance cooperation in trade and economy and security and intelligence sharing. They agreed to allow private sectors to play a role in developing their economies and to set up a mechanism to remove bottlenecks, if any.

Mr Gilani said two committees, one headed by foreign ministers and the other by interior ministers, would meet on a regular basis to make their borders safe and work out ways of boosting economic activities and trade.

Prime Minister Gilani also met First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi and discussed with him the gas pipeline and electricity projects. They agreed to increase people-to-people contacts.