LAHORE: According to a report, Iran is willing to provide a loan of up to $500 million for the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project. The total cost of the project for Pakistan is said to be around $1.5 billion and Iran’s generous offer means that a third of the cost of laying the pipes in Pakistan will be borne by its western neighbour.
At present, Pakistan is facing severe shortage of natural gas. In many industrial units, production is reduced and a number of power plants are non-operational because they run on gas. Fertiliser plants are also running at low capacity, again because gas is required to produce urea. As a direct consequence of this, the government is importing millions of dollars worth of urea annually to meet the demands of farmers.
I think Pakistani policymakers should learn lessons from China and Russia and enter into deals with countries based on its own interests and should not be cowed down by pressure from overseas. It is time that Pakistan decided to have a close relationship with Iran, India and Afghanistan for the prosperity of its people — and this should be based on economic interests.
ST Hussain
Published in The Express Tribune, December 6th, 2012.
