Pipeline priority

The project, which will cost Pakistan $1.5 billion, must be welcomed wholeheartedly.

Despite vociferous objections raised by the US, Pakistan and Iran have boldly gone ahead and inaugurated the gas pipeline, which is to bring in much-needed gas from Iran to meet Pakistan’s pressing energy requirements. The pipeline was inaugurated by presidents Asif Ali Zardari and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Chabahar on the Pakistan-Iran border, from where the pipeline will cross over into Pakistan. It will then travel 781 kilometres across its territory, bringing in the energy Pakistan so desperately needs to get its factories working again to full capacity, containing the economic crisis that has arisen from the energy shortfall, meeting the needs of domestic users and generally, getting the wheels that run the state whirring once again.

The project, which will cost Pakistan $1.5 billion, must therefore be welcomed wholeheartedly. It could, and should, prove crucial for the future of our country. Indeed, perhaps it should have been put in place sooner given the losses we have suffered in so many forms as a result of the energy shortfall which has continued for years. But even beyond this, there are reasons to celebrate with the two presidents who jointly raised their hands at the inauguration ceremony. The pipeline helps re-establish Pakistan’s sovereignty at a time when it stands badly dented. It also shows that Pakistan is willing to put its own interests ahead of all others, as indeed it should, and stand tall despite the pressures exerted by Washington. For this, the president and the government deserve credit. They have demonstrated that we are capable of putting ourselves first when making decisions.

The signing of the pipeline deal is also important for reasons beyond this. For one, it binds the region closer together — and such regional cooperation is vital for development and for progress in several areas. Islamabad and Tehran have shown that they understand this and as such, the pipeline deal could usher in cooperation in other areas binding nations closer together, thereby making it more possible for them to put the needs of their people at the very top of the priority list.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 13^th, 2013.