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Gas pipeline project beyond provisions of UN resolution

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Islamabad, June 23, IRNA -- Pakistani Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Abdul Basit said here Wenesday Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project is beyond provisions of United Nations resolution against Iran.

Talking to IRNA he said that Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani’s statement regarding Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project was misunderstood by media.

“PM statement was taken out of contest (as) he never said that Pakistan will abandon the gas pipeline project. He only said that Pakistan will abide by (the) international laws”, he made it clear.

Earlier Pakistan news papers had quoted Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani as saying that Pakistan would abide by any US sanctions on Iran, which was certain to jeopardise the much-needed Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline project.

“If the US imposes sanctions, they will have international implications and Pakistan as a member of the international community will follow them,” he said.

US Special Envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, has advised Islamabad against finalizing the $7.6 billion gas pipeline project with Iran, with a warning that such a move could hit Pakistani companies involved in the project.

Holbrooke’s warning was linked to a current move in the US Congress where a legislation to further tighten sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme was in final stages.

Pakistani Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Abdul Basit said that that any legislation by US against Iran would be a national legislation and Pakistan being a sovereign country is not obliged to abide such legislation.

“Pakistan is a sovereign country and such legislations are not mandatory for us”, he said.

Abdul Basit expressing his views said that the gas pipeline project is beyond the provisions of UN resolution against Iran.

“There is no problem in the project as far as we are concerned”, he categorically stated.

Experts believe that abandoning what has come to be known as a ‘Peace Pipeline’ agreement may severely affect Pakistan’s plan to meet its energy needs in the next two decades.

Iran and Pakistan have formally signed an export deal, which stipulates that Iran would begin supplying natural gas to Pakistan from 2014.

The pipeline will connect Iran’s giant South Fars gas field with Pakistan’s Balochistan and Sindh provinces.

The volume of imported gas will be about 20 percent of Pakistan’s current gas production, and the agreement is for a period of 25 years, renewable for another five years.

Under the gas sale and purchase agreement (GSPA), Pakistan will import about 750 million cubic feet a day (mmcfd) with provision to increase it to one billion cubic feet a day (bcfd).