Friday, June 16 2006 10:08 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Shanghai: Stating that Pakistan can serve as a 'hub of economic activity' in the region by developing energy corridors, President Pervez Musharraf has offered to extend the proposed multi-billion dollar Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline to China.

Addressing a meeting at the Shanghai Institute of International Studies yesterday, Musharraf currently here to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting, offered to extend IPI and Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) gas pipelines to China through Pakistan.

"We are actively working on IPI and as well as TAP gas pipelines with possibility of extension to India. These two projects are important to meet the growing energy needs of Pakistan and India. Another extension of the Iran-Pakistan segment of the gas pipeline could be its extension to China along the Karakoram Highway on to Xinjiang." "Pakistan can serve as the hub of economic activity linking these regions by developing energy corridors, transit trade routes and communication links through Pakistan," he was quoted as saying by the Pakistani state-run media.

Musharraf also lauded China's entry into SAARC as an observer.

"We are very happy and proud that China has got an observer status in SAARC.I think with China's participation in SAARC, it will give big boost to regional cooperation with in SAARC, which at the moment unfortunately has not been the case because of conflict within the region and conflict between the two larger members of SAARC that is India and Pakistan," he said.