March 14, 2013 . 6

PM’s Petroleum and Natural Resources Adviser Dr Asim Hussain has said that those who oppose the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline cannot be friends of Pakistan. Thus, at a press conference in Islamabad on Tuesday he provided the response of the federal government to US threats of extending the sanctions it has placed on Iran to Pakistan. Pakistan’s Ambassador to Washington Sherry Rehman, has come to Islamabad, after attending Monday’s groundbreaking ceremony, to apprise the political and military leadership of the US reaction. In case of sanctions the option of ending cooperation with the US, including withdrawing permission to NATO to use land routes over Pakistan from Afghanistan, has also been considered. The suspension would affect the impending NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan, which it has already begun.

The reason why Pakistan went ahead with the project is contained within Dr Asim’s press conference, when he said that it would generate 4000MW of power. Pakistan is undergoing severe energy shortages and the Iranian gas is all it has to put this power on line. Pakistan simply cannot afford to ignore this reality, and will regard the pipeline as, in Dr Asim’s words, a lifeline for the country, and will find the demand of reviewing the decision incomprehensible. Whether sanctions, or the related consequence of denying passage to returning NATO containers from Afghanistan, there is no doubt that on either side serious consequences are expected.

As Dr Asim pointed out, Iran was already exporting petroleum products to various countries, such as India, Turkey, Qatar and Canada. The principle should be the same, especially for all countries allied with the USA. It is incomprehensible why Pakistan will be rewarded for its unstinted support of the USA by sanctions for fulfilling an essential need. The matter should not be made into one of egos. Both countries recognise each others compulsions and room must be found for Pakistan to pursue its goal of energy independence. The future in everyone's favour is a profitably employed Pakistan, pursuing economic stability and growth. That goal can only be helped in the immediate short term most effectively by gas imports from Iran to stabilise industrial production levels. Can the USA really find fault with that?

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-ne...p-gas-pipeline