BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhuanet) -- ’s president is in for a ceremony to mark the construction of a pipeline that will bring natural gas from Iran, despite US opposition to the project. President Asif Ali Zardari met his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud as the ceremony got under way at the border.

Iran has completed a 900-kilometre pipeline on its side of the border and Iranian contractors will also construct the pipeline in Pakistan. The pipeline is intended to help Pakistan meet its growing energy needs at a time when the country is facing increased blackouts and energy shortages.

But there are serious doubts about how Pakistan could raise the 1.5 billion US dollars needed to construct the pipeline. The US has opposed the project, and has instead promoted an alternative pipeline that runs from the gas fields of Turkmenistan through , Pakistan and then to India.

(Source: CNTV.cn)