Pakistan backs out from Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project under US pressure

Islamabad – Iran’s Foreign Minister expressed confidence that the annual trade with Pakistan would increase to $5 billion after visiting the country. At the same time, the Iranian Foreign Minister had indicated that the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project would start soon, and it would be possible to supply fuel from Iran to Pakistan through the pipeline. Besides, this project would be significant for Pakistan due to the fuel shortage and rising prices. However, Pakistan has prepared to wrap up this project due to US pressure.

Moreover, the Pakistani Minister of State for Petroleum has admitted that the US has imposed tough sanctions on Iran, making it difficult for Pakistan to buy fuel from Iran. In addition, Pakistan’s newspapers have published this news, and discussions have also started on Pakistan giving a blow to Iran again. The Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) project was announced long back. However, due to a lack of trust in Pakistan, India withdrew from this project, which ruled out the viability of the project. Nevertheless, by completing the work of this pipeline, Iran has taken this pipeline to Pakistan’s borders.

Pakistan also backed out of the project after the US imposed sanctions on Iran. Enraged over this, Iran demanded compensation from Pakistan. However, Iran is again trying to improve relations with Pakistan for the last few months. Accordingly, Iran’s Foreign Minister visited Pakistan a few days ago. He also called for increasing trade and fuel cooperation between the two countries. The Iranian Foreign Minister even expressed confidence that the economies of the two countries would be helpful to each other. Furthermore, he has also highlighted that Pakistan is a major fuel-demanding country, while Iran is a fuel-producing country.

However, Pakistan’s foreign policy, which struggles to get one billion dollars from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is not independent. Thus, US pressure has always impacted Pakistan’s policy and decisions. Hence, Pakistan’s Minister of State for Petroleum, Musadik Malik, has admitted that their country was unable to buy fuel from Iran.

Pakistan may not be procuring fuel from Iran at the official level, but still, the fact that it smuggles a huge amount of fuel across the border between the two countries does not remain hidden. Meanwhile, Pakistani journalists claim that 30% of the fuel available at Pakistan’s petrol pumps is smuggled from Iran. Therefore, it reveals that Pakistan does not need to trade fuel with Iran at the authorised level.