The issue of IP

How can Pakistan go through with it?

Pakistan these days is facing a hard issue in its national interests. Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project is a vital need of the country which should undoubtedly be completed as soon as possible to help the country overcome the energy crisis. Pakistan is facing some harsh realities in its political life. IP is a must for Pakistan but the US – as an important financial supporter of the country – is seriously opposing it. Is Pakistan skilled enough to manage this hard situation? What should be done?

Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project faced a major breakthrough on the eve of winter. The Iranian President was here for D8 Summit while the government to government agreement for implementation of the project was finalised between the relevant authorities of the two countries. Now there is a good chance that Iran will help implement the project as it has offered a 500 million USD credit line.

Implementing the IP project would allow Pakistan to feel safe in the energy market, giving it the opportunity to deal with other needs of the country resulting in a huge self-confidence for the society. It will also let Pakistan face more bravely outside pressures put on the statesmen from time to time. The IP will help Pakistan bring safety and welfare to its people, particularly in the regions which directly benefit from it. There is also a strong possibility in the near future for the people and industries of the regions not covered by the pipeline to benefit from it indirectly.

The IP gas pipeline does not just deal with the internal affairs. If you go a little further there are clear signs that prove the role of such a project to be much more important than just of an internal economic function. It could also be assumed as a very influential tool to implement Pakistan’s regional ambitions. In fact, while the IP is considered as a solution to tackle Pakistan’s energy crisis, its other functions are even more crucial to the country’s strategic role in the region. It will help Pakistan emerge as a transition tunnel for the region in energy procurement to such an extent that big economies like China and India would not be able to ignore it as a considerable energy providing catalyser in the future. These two elements – injecting energy into the domestic economy and taking over the transition role in the energy market of the region – will help Pakistan jump several steps ahead in its economic landscape, while taking the prestigious position of the stepping stone in the region’s energy-starved economies.

Obviously, the advantages of IP are not limited. For example, its secondary role in producing other types of energy such as electricity, its effect on the improvement of other various sectors of the country’s economy, particularly the textile and wood industry, its role in bringing welfare to the society and last but not least, its influence on soliciting compromise and encouraging peace with neighbours, are just some aspects of these further advantages.

Such a promising horizon makes it worthy for Pakistan to somehow confront the pressure from outside. The main challenge in this regard is opposition of the United States which – as a big financial supporter of Pakistan – considers itself to have the right to dictate its policies to the country. This may sound tolerable at a time when the economy is in normal condition but no one sees it as a logical approach in these days of energy crisis throughout the country. The main obstacle here is recourse of the US and its allies to international sanctions. Actually, we are facing a complicated legal dispute since there are serious discussions underway regarding the applicability of those sanctions to the projects like IP.

Jordan declined to participate in the sanctions against Iraq by resorting to Article 50 of the United Nation’s Charter. The article specifies, “If preventive or enforcement measures against any state are taken by the Security Council, any other state, whether a Member of the United Nations or not, which finds itself confronted with special economic problems arising from the carrying out of those measures shall have the right to consult the Security Council with regard to a solution of those problems.” The Charter this way allows a neighbouring country of a sanctioned state to be exempted from participating in the action in case it faces serious problems as a result of those sanctions. This expository perception of the article is so influential that Jordan used it again, this time in the case of Syria. With the availability of such legal loopholes, Pakistan could also benefit from a similar immunity in case sanctions against Iran are carried forward.

As witnessed, many countries appealed to the Unites States to seek waiver from participating in the sanctions on the excuse of negative consequences to their economies. Turkey, South Korea, India, Belgium, Britain, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain were among those accepted by the US to be exempted in the early stages of sanctions, some of those are waiting these days to be granted the exemption for another period of six months. So, there is now an extra chance for Pakistan to get this exemption as a country particularly vulnerable to the harmful effects of those sanctions.

This way the country won’t pay any extra cost for the United States’ wars. No American war should be waged on the expense of Pakistani people. So, the position of Pakistan on the IP could be complemented by a technical-legal action towards the matter by filing an appeal for exemption to the United Nations (and US if necessary) seeking waiver from participating in the sanctions procedure. Nobody in their right mind would reject Pakistan’s right considering how badly Pakistan needs energy and its proximity with Iran.

The writer is a freelance contributor. He can be contacted at: [email protected]