THE Pak-Iran Gas Pipeline project has been delayed due to the nefarious ambitions of Indian and international colonial forces. Similarly, several geo-political changing trends also played important role in descending the project. It started in 1995, under which an 81 km pipeline was approved from the Iranian border to Gwadar, at that time it was called the Peace Pipeline. It was also named as Pipeline Peace. In case of completion of the gas pipeline project, Pakistan will not only save more than 5 billion dollars annually, but will also get 750 million cubic feet of gas from Iran at a much cheaper price than LNG. And as a result of which, people in the country will not have to bear the expensive gas rates; which they face currently.
It is a harsh reality that Pakistan is facing a critical situation with regard to natural gas reserves, in which 69 percent of the total reserves are vanished. Currently 78% households do not have access to the natural gas. Similarly, as a result of limited availability of the gas, households with access to natural gas face 16 hours of load shedding. This is the reason why Pakistan continues to face challenges in meeting the demand for natural gas, leading to a rise in energy demand. Apart from the household usage, natural gas is one of the important requirements for various industries; thus, Pakistan’s industrial sector is badly struggling as a result of absence of enough amount of natural gas in the country. Moreover, it leads to hurdles in the basic infrastructure and supply-demand imbalances.
Iran uses an estimated 1,200 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas reserves, the world’s second largest after Russia. Nevertheless, Iran’s exports of energy products are subjected to strict US sanctions; thus, imposing harsh limits on its export potential. These sanctions limit access to global markets and financial networks; therefore, badly affecting trade. It is obvious that the Iran-Pakistan pipeline project has also faced a number of hurdles, in the aftermath of the US attack on Afghanistan in the post-9/11 era. The American invasion and militancy in Baluchistan caused irreparable damage to this great project. Similarly, after the American sanctions on Iran, Pakistan continued to be put under diplomatic pressure on this project which further delayed it.
The US officials always opposed the gas Pipeline between the two neighbors; which increases tremendous economic pressure on Pakistan. Like the past most recently, the US Secretary of State’s spokesman Matthew Miller reiterated the statement of Assistant Secretary Donald Lowe during a press briefing that the US does not support the gas pipeline project between Pakistan and Iran. Spokesman Matthew Miller made it clear that doing business with Iran could expose both countries to American’s sanctions. In fact, Pakistan needs to prioritize the completion of the IP gas pipeline project in order to avoid a massive penalty of $18 billion; which is three times the current foreign exchange reserves of the State Bank of Pakistan.
Pakistan is a sovereign country and has full authority and freedom to take decisions in the best interest of its people. More importantly, the question is, how long will we pledge our independence? When will we be able to make independent decisions? Sovereignty and self-respect are the two important distinguished attributes of a statehood; therefore, sooner or later, Pakistani authorities will have to strictly adhere to such attributes in order to uphold the highest ranks in terms of statehood. These are not only important for the mentioned fact, but for the economic uplift of the country as well.
—The writer is contributing columnist.
