Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline will be constructed by 2018, Pakistan's Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said in a media briefing, the country's Daily Times news journal reported. Abbasi added that Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India Pipeline project will be completed by January 2020. The pipeline's construction was announced to commence in 2012 to be completed in two years. But it went downhill after the US and the EU introduced tougher sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. Pakistan has been sluggish in finishing the pipeline on its territory. The country has blamed financial woes and international restrictions in doing business with Iran for the delay in laying the pipeline on its side. And despite promising statements by Pakistani officials in recent months, the country has yet to take effective measures to make gas import from Iran a reality. Pakistan had previously said the country was forced to delay the project in view of international sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
