Earlier this month Islamabad signed a multibillion dollar deal with Tehran to import natural gas to meet its growing energy needs. The project is scheduled to get underway by 2014.
But a top US diplomat cautioned Pakistan in a recent visit against rushing the deal, warning it could cause trouble between Islamabad and Washington.
Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, however, told parliamentarians a day later that Pakistan would not follow US dictates on Iran.
“But if sanctions are imposed by the UN, Islamabad would have to honor them,” Gilani added.
“We will see how far we can go to resist pressures in either case … [whether the] sanctions come from the UN or the US,” a cabinet member said.
He added, though, that Pakistan would not, under any circumstance, backtrack from its commitment to the gas pipeline project.
“That’s out of question … not an option,” remarked the minister, who wished to remain unnamed.
The cabinet would also be given a briefing on a flurry of diplomatic activities in Islamabad last week.
oreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi would apprise the cabinet on the prospects of improvement in Pakistan’s troubled relations with India after the recent meetings.
Similarly, Interior Minister Rehman Malik is scheduled to brief the cabinet on last week’s conference with his counterparts from South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) countries.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 30th, 2010.
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