Back from the brink: Pakistan, Iran agree to pursue gas pipeline

In meeting with Nawaz, Rowhani says both nations can uproot terrorism with regional help.

TEHRAN:

Pakistan and Iran agreed on Sunday to press ahead with a multibillion-dollar gas pipeline project — which ran into snags several times in the past over fears that it might invite economic sanctions from the United States and other Western nations.

“I am here with my team of finance, petroleum and interior [ministers] to resolve all matters which are creating hindrance in the project,” Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told Iran’s President Hassan Rowhani in a meeting at Saadabad Palace in Tehran.

The two leaders agreed that the project was beneficial to the peoples of the two countries. They agreed to work jointly for the progress of the project while keeping the threat of sanctions in view.

As a practical gesture, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi met their Iranian counterparts afterwards and agreed to go full steam ahead with the project and find plausible solutions to any irritants in its completion.

Premier Nawaz and President Rowhani also reiterated their commitment to enhance bilateral trade, with Premier Nawaz saying that “we want to enhance the annual trade to a new high of $5 billion”.

Pakistan-Iran relations, according to PM Nawaz, are bound by historical and religious linkages. “I am here to open a new page in Pak-Iran relationships,” he added. “As a prime minister, I first visited Iran in 1999 and have found the Iranian people more affectionate on every visit since.”

However, the prime minister cautioned that some miscreants were trying to sabotage this relationship. “We will deal with all such elements firmly and not let them sabotage our relations,” he added. “We want security for development and development for security.”

According to Press TV, President Rowhani said terrorism was a ‘big and serious’ problem in the region, stressing that both Tehran and Islamabad could counter terrorism in cooperation with other regional countries.

“Iran and Pakistan are two great Muslim countries that are able to uproot terrorism and violence in the region by inviting other regional states to enhance intelligence, security and operational cooperation,” he said.

“All regional and Arab countries must believe that the presence of terrorist groups will not help peace, stability and the interests of any country,” he added.

He noted that Iran and Pakistan enjoyed great capacities to boost cooperation in their border regions.

“The Iranian government and nation have always called for the establishment of stability and security along the Iran-Pakistan border and have always tried to prevent any damage from our country’s border areas to any neighbouring state, particularly Pakistan,” Rowhani said.

The president commended Pakistan’s efforts to secure the release of Iranian border guards abducted by Jaishul Adl militants, saying further efforts by Islamabad to control and secure Pakistan’s borders would speed up development in the country and across the region.

Jaishul Adl kidnapped five Iranian border guards in Jakigour region in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan on February 6 and allegedly took them to the Pakistani territory. The group later claimed that it had executed one of the guards. In April, four of the five abducted border guards were freed and reunited with their families. The fate of the last border guard is still being investigated.

Premier Nawaz, for his part, said his country was a victim of terrorism that had inflicted ‘severe blows’ to the country’s economy. President Rowhani affirmed his government’s support adding that “peace in the region is our common goal”. He added that Tehran would support Islamabad to progress and become secure.

Nawaz extended an invitation to President Rowhani to visit Pakistan, which was accepted. He also met with Iran’s First Vice President Eshaq Jehangiri.

Earlier the prime minister and his entourage were received by Iran’s Minister for Economic Affairs and Finance Ali Tayyabnia at Mehrabad International Airport. The official welcome ceremony was held at Saadabad Palace where a smartly turned out contingent presented the guard of honour to the prime minister.


Published in The Express Tribune, May 12^th, 2014.