Pakistan Reiterates Necessity of IP Gas Pipeline

A senior Pakistani official underlined that Islamabad is determined to continue the implementation of the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project.
“The new government of Pakistan is determined to complete the gas pipeline from Iran,” Pakistani Charge d’Affaires in Tehran Soheil Seddiqi said on Sunday.

The Pakistani envoy pointed to Pakistan’s acute energy needs, and reiterated that Islamabad will complete the IP pipeline project despite external pressures and sanctions.

“Implementation of the gas pipeline project is related to Pakistan’s national interests and Islamabad is committed to its national interests, no matter which government is running the country,” he added.

Iran and Pakistan officially inaugurated the construction phase of a gas pipeline project in March which is due to take Iran’s rich gas reserves to the energy-hungry South Asian nation.

The project kicked off in a ceremony attended by former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his former Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari at the two countries’ shared border region in Iran’s Southeastern city of Chabahar.

The 2700-kilometer long pipeline was to supply gas for Pakistan and India which are suffering a lack of energy sources, but India has evaded talks. In 2011, Iran and Pakistan declared they would finalize the agreement bilaterally if India continued to be absent in the meeting.

Iran has already constructed more than 900 kilometers of the pipeline on its soil.

According to the project proposal, the pipeline will begin from Iran’s Assalouyeh Energy Zone in the south and stretch over 1,100 km through Iran. In Pakistan, it will pass through Baluchistan and Sindh but officials now say the route may be changed if China agrees to the project.