The ground breaking ceremony will be held on the Iran-Pakistan border, says an official. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan will complete the $7.5 billion gas pipeline from Iran to Pakistan despite pressure from the United States, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Moazzam Ahmad Khan said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad.
“President Zardari will visit Iran for the groundbreaking ceremony and it will take place on March 11,” Khan told reporters.
He did not give further details but a senior Pakistani official told AFP that the ceremony will be held on the Iran-Pakistan border.
It will be Zardari’s second visit to Iran since February 27 and comes after officials said a consortium will start work on the pipeline on Pakistani territory on March 11 despite American warnings of possible sanctions.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 8th, 2013.
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The $1.5 Billion IP suddenly became $7.5 Billion and no one raised an eyebrow in Pakistan? This project has zero credibility - you don't have the money to build the pipeline, can't find anyone to finance the IP ($500 million from Iran is a drop in the bucket), and can't even pay for the gas if/when the IP is completed. . A pipeline is just a delivery mechanism and by itself provides zero energy. Pipelines are capital intensive - lots of money spent on the front end - and plenty of money budgeted to insure that they are protected and maintained. No reasonable business/country spends this kind of money without extensive economic feasibility studies demonstrating that the enormous capital and maintenance cost will result in an appropriate financial return - yet Pakistan hasn't even performed a basic financial analysis, has no clue what the production, maintenance and security cost are/will be. . Even fundamental questions such as whether it makes sense to invest Billions in a project which depends on a country known for cutting off trade/closing your border aren't raised. Unfortunately, the same people who should be asking the tough questions (ie Editors of this and similar papers) not only won't ask the questions but have written Editorials supporting the IP. Supporting a major capital project without having even basic information seems like nothing other than "chest thumping" - something very common in Pakistan.