Pakistan digs in over Iran gas pipeline

In a rebuff to US warnings against going ahead with the vital project of import of natural gas from Iran through a multi-billion dollar pipeline, Pakistan on Thursday declared it would proceed with the construction of the pipeline and had no plans to drop the project.
“All of these projects are in Pakistan’s national interest and will be pursued and completed irrespective of any extraneous considerations,” said Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar while addressing a news conference at the Foreign Office.
She said, “As far as our bilateral relations and cooperation is concerned, we do not make it contingent on views and policies of any third country.” “It is in Pakistan’s national interest to acquire energy from wherever it was available. We cannot afford to be selective,” Hina said.
The foreign minister’s statement was in response to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s warning that she came up with in her testimony on Wednesday before the congressional subcommittee that Pakistan risked facing economic sanctions if it continued with its plan to go for the construction of Iranian gas pipeline.
To a question on possible sanctions that Pakistan could face in case it pursued the gas pipeline project with Iran, she said, “We’ll cross the bridge when it comes.” “We will see what will be the impact but we hope for no implementation on the unilateral sanctions,” she said. “We will talk to the international community on this and the world agrees that this region cannot afford destabilisation because of any other military action,” she said.
Answering another query, she said the relations with the United States, NATO and ISAF would be promoted on the basis of mutual self-respect and in line with the policy devised by Pakistan’s parliament.
She said the parliamentary committee on foreign policy would finalise the recommendations by the second week of current month.
Answering a query on any remorse expressed by the US secretary of state during a recent meeting she held with her in London, Hina said the US officials expressed regret over the NATO attack on the Salala checkpost. Responding to a question on not allowing the US officials to visit Pakistan, the foreign minister said the refusal was until the time a clear cut policy on ties with the United States was finalised.
She said it would remain so until a final decision was made by parliament on the nature of relations with the United States in the future. Hina said as far as her meeting with Clinton was concerned, it was on the sidelines of an international conference in London.
She also dubbed the recently held Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran trilateral summit in Islamabad a landmark meeting, saying the three sides had tasked their foreign ministers to come up with a roadmap for cooperation and collaboration in the field of trade, commerce and energy sectors. She said Pakistan supported an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned solution to the problem of Afghanistan.
On normalisation of trade relations with India, the foreign minister said Pakistan’s decision to normalise trade ties with India reflected a desire to move away from the policies of the past 40 years. However, she cautioned that it should not be taken as any dilution of its stand on core issues like Kashmir. She said, “We believe that the establishment of normal trade relations with India will be mutually beneficial for both countries. Significantly it also illustrates the priority that we attach to Pakistan’s economic development.” She said, “This decision, however, should in no way be construed as any dilution of our principled stance on the core issues that have bedevilled Pakistan-India relations for the last 60 years, and notably the issue of Jammu and Kashmir.” “Pakistan will continue to seek the peaceful resolution of all issues with India and continue to insist on meaningful progress in the dialogue process on all issues simultaneously,” she said. She said the Pakistani government was willing to try new means to engage with India that amounted to a shift from the policies of the past four decades.