Meeting energy needs
Pakistan has to bear the brunt of US pressure on this if it wishes to import gas from Iran.
Even though the US has invested significant amounts of money in the energy sector here, including towards building new dams and renovating old ones, it remains intractable in its refusal to consider the pipeline.
The truism that nations have no permanent friends, only permanent interests should be kept in mind when dealing with the US. We have come to rely so heavily on American aid to prop up our economy that we sometimes forget that the US is funding us out of need, not benevolence. A reminder of this essential fact of international relations was given again when the US reiterated its strong opposition to the proposed Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline. Even though the US has invested significant amounts of money in the energy sector here, including towards building new dams and renovating old ones, it remains intractable in its refusal to consider the pipeline. This is due to America’s own relations with Iran and the sanctions it imposed on the country for its alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons.
The US has also pushed for the TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) pipeline as an alternative to the Iranian pipeline. This is despite the fact that the TAPI pipeline would be even more prone to being sabotaged since it would run through Herat and Kandahar in Afghanistan and then pass through Balochistan. If a gas pipeline is the answer, then TAPI is less practical than the Iran pipeline.
Of course, Pakistan has to bear the brunt of US pressure on this if it wishes to import gas from Iran. And given its dependence on American aid, this may be a difficult decision by any measure. The US has been pressurising other countries not to cooperate with Iran, which is likely what led to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to back off from its previous commitment to fund the pipeline. The TAPI pipeline will, at the absolute earliest, become operational by 2016 and, in any case, may be too risky a project to take since it would be unclear what the security situation in Afghanistan would be by then. What is undeniable is that we have so thoroughly wasted our gas resources that our only solutions are to increase prices at home for the next few years and then look abroad just to meet our basic energy needs.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 24th, 2013.
The US has also pushed for the TAPI (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) pipeline as an alternative to the Iranian pipeline. This is despite the fact that the TAPI pipeline would be even more prone to being sabotaged since it would run through Herat and Kandahar in Afghanistan and then pass through Balochistan. If a gas pipeline is the answer, then TAPI is less practical than the Iran pipeline.
Of course, Pakistan has to bear the brunt of US pressure on this if it wishes to import gas from Iran. And given its dependence on American aid, this may be a difficult decision by any measure. The US has been pressurising other countries not to cooperate with Iran, which is likely what led to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to back off from its previous commitment to fund the pipeline. The TAPI pipeline will, at the absolute earliest, become operational by 2016 and, in any case, may be too risky a project to take since it would be unclear what the security situation in Afghanistan would be by then. What is undeniable is that we have so thoroughly wasted our gas resources that our only solutions are to increase prices at home for the next few years and then look abroad just to meet our basic energy needs.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 24th, 2013.