Pakistan stands firm on Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project

In what appeared to be a quite bold step, Pakistan on Thursday vowed to go ahead with Pak-Iran gas pipeline project, rejecting the U.S. threats of economic sanctions on promotion of economic ties between the two neighboring countries.

This stance gives a strong message to the U.S. which is increasing its pressure on Pakistan to abandon the gas-pipeline project.

Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani while speaking in TV programme asserted that Pakistan is a sovereign state and they will do whatever is interest of the country.

The premier clarified that Pakistan and Iran, the two brotherly states, have bilateral ties and cooperation in diverse fields including energy, gas pipeline, electricity and others.

In his view, there have been ups and downs in the US-Pak relations. He, however, said Pakistan wants to enhance its tie-ups with America on mutual respect basis.

The two countries have a universal goal of success in the war on terror, the two are fighting collectively, he added. The premier, at the same time, urged the U.S. to refrain from interfering in Pakistan’s internal affairs to bridge the trust deficit between the two.

Gilani explained the recent Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran Trilateral Summit, saying the matter of reconciliation was discussed in detail with other leaders. He elucidated there was no military solution in Afghanistan, urging the efforts to find a political solution of the issue.

On the other hand, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar made a rare show-up at the Foreign Office weekly briefing, reiterating that pursuing energy cooperation agreements with Iran was in national interest of the country.

She asserted, “Pakistan is pursuing important projects with Iran such as gas pipeline, electricity transmission and also building a more robust trade partnership. All of these projects are in Pakistan’s national interest and will be pursued and completed irrespective of any extraneous consideration”.

She rejected the U.S. objections on gas pipeline, sending a clear message to Washington that Islamabad would make a decision keeping national interests a priority.

Khar added, “I think all our friends are encouraged to understand the real energy crisis that is in Pakistan. We can’t afford to be selective of where we receive our energy supply from”.

The Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister spoke over the issue a day after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned at a Congressional testimony that Pakistan could face sanctions if it did not give up the pipeline project.

Currently, the country is facing severe energy crisis, believes that the multi-billion dollar gas pipeline is its best bet to partially resolve the problem.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Mar 2 2012. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.