{"id":5969,"date":"2018-03-02T12:01:46","date_gmt":"2018-03-02T07:01:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ssgc.com.pk\/web\/?p=5969"},"modified":"2018-03-02T12:01:46","modified_gmt":"2018-03-02T07:01:46","slug":"pak-iran-gas-pipeline-row-intensifies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ssgc.com.pk\/web\/?p=5969","title":{"rendered":"Pak-Iran gas pipeline row intensifies"},"content":{"rendered":"

ISLAMABAD –\u00a0 The Iran-Pakistan\u00a0<\/span>gas pipeline<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>row<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>has intensified as Tehran accuses Islamabad of violating the agreement.<\/p>\n

Diplomatic sources told The Nation that Pakistan was making efforts to stop\u00a0<\/span>Iran<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>from moving the arbitration court to seek damages worth over $1 billion.<\/p>\n

A senior official at the foreign ministry said that\u00a0<\/span>Iran<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>was \u201cfed up\u201d with Pakistan\u2019s logic to delay the implementation of the Iran-Pakistan\u00a0<\/span>gas pipeline<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>project. \u201cWe are trying to convince them (Iran) that we are still committed to the project and the delay is not due to any bad intention,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The official said Pakistan was optimistic the issue will be sorted out through talks. \u201cThere are only misunderstandings. The issue will be resolved,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Reports said\u00a0<\/span>Iran<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>had threatened to move the arbitration court against Pakistan for allegedly shelving the IP project. Tehran had warned of invoking the penalty clause of the Gas Sales Purchase Agreement under which Pakistan has to pay $1 million per day if it fails to comply with the agreement. Tehran is seeking more than $1.2 billion under the GSPA.<\/p>\n

Pakistan says that the IP project was still alive. Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Mohammed Faisal said that IP project had not been frozen.\u00a0 \u201cTo the best of my knowledge, the IP\u00a0<\/span>gas pipeline<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>project is still on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For years, Pakistan and\u00a0<\/span>Iran<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>have been working to complete the\u00a0<\/span>gas pipeline<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>project to resolve Pakistan\u2019s energy crisis. The IP pipeline project – also called Peace Pipeline \u2013 is aimed at constructing a pipeline from Iran\u2019s South Pars fields in the Persian Gulf to Pakistan’s major cities of Karachi and Multan.<\/p>\n

The pipeline can carry 110 million cubic meters of gas a day.\u00a0<\/span>Iran<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>will initially transfer 30 million cubic meters of gas per day to Pakistan, but will eventually increase the gas transfer to 60 million cubic meters per day.<\/p>\n

Another official at the foreign ministry said\u00a0<\/span>Iran<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>had asked Pakistan \u201cnot to follow the United States\u201d on the IP project. \u201cThey believe the US is stopping us (Pakistan) to move further on the project. We have tried to defuse this impression,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Senior Pakistan People\u2019s Party leader Senator Sherry Rehman called the development another \u201chuge foreign policy failure\u201d of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz-led government.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe IP\u00a0<\/span>gas pipeline<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>was ripe for completion from the PPP government\u2019s active diplomacy especially via (former president) Asif Ali Zardari but they ignored it. Now Pakistan is deprived of nearby Gas but also has to pay $1.2 bill in fines to an angry\u00a0<\/span>Iran<\/a>,\u201d she contended.<\/p>\n

She said that among a line of foreign policy failures by ousted premier Nawaz Sharif\u2019s government is the fact that Pakistan had to now pay a staggering amount as fine on a pipeline that would have brought gas to an energy-starved Pakistan from\u00a0<\/span>Iran<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>. \u201cThis is typical of how public interest is ignored by the PML-N as it pursues its own interests,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said that Zardari had set it up with\u00a0<\/span>Iran<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>in the last PPP-led government through diligent diplomacy with Tehran. \u201cHad this vision been realized not only we would be getting gas from a neighbour but also creating a web of connectivity for an energy grid in the region,\u201d she remarked.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s ambassador to Pakistan Mehdi Honardoost said\u00a0<\/span>Iran<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>had fulfilled its commitments regarding construction of the\u00a0<\/span>gas pipeline<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>in the Iranian section and was ready to start export of gas to Pakistan at the earliest in case of implementation of the commitments by Pakistan.<\/p>\n

He said no energy source could be a replacement of the IP\u00a0<\/span>gas pipeline<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>for growing gas requirements of Pakistan. \u201cEspecially in view of the implementation of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project, Iranian gas will not only fulfill the gas requirements of Pakistan in the coming years rather its transit to China can also be considered,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source: The Nation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ISLAMABAD –\u00a0 The Iran-Pakistan\u00a0gas pipeline\u00a0row\u00a0has intensified as Tehran accuses Islamabad of violating the agreement. Diplomatic sources told The Nation that Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5765,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ssgc.com.pk\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ssgc.com.pk\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ssgc.com.pk\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssgc.com.pk\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssgc.com.pk\/web\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5969"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssgc.com.pk\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5969\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5970,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssgc.com.pk\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5969\/revisions\/5970"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssgc.com.pk\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ssgc.com.pk\/web\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssgc.com.pk\/web\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ssgc.com.pk\/web\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}