With Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi’s visit to Pakistan, work on the Pakistan-Iran Gas Pipeline has already begun.

According to Business Recorder, Pakistan has begun building the 80km pipeline that will begin in Gwadar and will connect to the Iranian pipeline.

Raisi is expected to visit Pakistan on April 22. The visit has also been foreshadowed by missile strikes exchanged by the country earlier this year.

The Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline will cost a total of Rs44 billion and will be completed in 24 months.

In addition to drawing money from the Gas Infrastructure Development Cess, the project will also be funded by the Public-Sector Development Program.

The project was originally supposed to have been completed by en of 2014 and become operationalised by January 2015.

Meanwhile, the United States has openly stated its opposition to the project, adding that Pakistan risks sanctions if it goes ahead with the project.

Pakistan has used sanctions as a reson to delay the project. However, Iran believes that the sanctions are unjustified. Iran has even told Pakistan that it would have to pay $18 billion as penalty in the project.

The 80-kilometer pipeline section is expected to handle 100 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) gas, compared to the anticipated 750 mmcfd for the project’s 25-year duration, the Business Recorder reported.