He said he did not think proceeding with the pipeline would damage those ties. "I think Washington understands that our energy needs are very acute, and energy security is critical to Pakistan's stability and growth, and that's all we are doing," he said, during a regional forum in the southern Chinese resort of Boao. Mr Aziz also said the pipeline could help strengthen rapprochement between India and Pakistan, who have fought three wars since the partition of the Indian subcontinent upon independence from the UK in 1947. "Pakistan is very committed to this project and we hope India will join in because this would be a peace pipeline," Aziz told reporters. "Whenever you can create situations where you create linkages and interdependencies, it helps to grow the overall atmosphere between the two countries," he said. Washington fears the pipeline would weaken efforts to isolate Iran, which it accuses of running a clandestine nuclear weapons programme. US officials have repeatedly expressed opposition to the pipeline, which would run for 2590km and transport 5.2bn cuft/d of gas. Mr Aziz went on to say that with economic growth running at about 7% annually, Pakistan's energy needs were growing at 10-12%/yr, far outstripping domestic gas supplies. Citing political stability as the reason, he said foreign investment was set to hit a record $6 billion during 2006-07, while per caput income was set to exceed $1,000. Mr Aziz' comments came on the second-to-last day of a six-day visit to close ally China, whose booming economy Pakistan hopes to tap for investment and markets for its own products.