Multiple sources available for IP gas pipeline funding: FM

Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar on Wednesday said the Chinese bank’s decision to pull out from the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline would not have any impact on Pakistan’s plan to proceed with the multi-billion dollars project as there were “multiple sources” available for its funding. Addressing a joint news conference at the Foreign Office with her Swedish counterpart Carl Bildt, the foreign minister said, “There are multiple sources available for Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline and this is fairly a very viable project.
We hope we will not see any problem in finding ways to ensure funds for the project.” She said the impression that the Chinese bank’s decision would affect Pakistan’s plan to import gas from Iran was not true and it would proceed with the project of gas pipeline. The foreign minister was responding to a question that a consortium led by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has run away from providing financial advisory services for the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project. To another question on the parliamentary review of ties with the United States, she said that the government’s decision to rewrite terms of engagement with the US, NATO and ISAF would expand cooperation with global players. She said, “We hope that the world will respect the new terms of engagement. She said that Pakistan wanted to assist the US led foreign troops deployed in Afghanistan with a smooth exit from the war-ravaged neighboring state.”
She said Pakistan and western countries had convergence of views on Afghan problem but the area of difference was the tools being used to achieve the ending goal.
Foreign Minister Khar also condemned the killing of 16 Afghan civilians including children by a US solider in Afghanistan. She said, “We condemn this act in the strongest possible terms and we want that the person responsible for this must be brought to justice.”
Speaking on the occasion, the Swedish foreign minister, whose country is also part of the ISAF forces, also expressed his regrets over the incident of killing of Afghan citizens. He said, “We hope this will not affect the overall policy in Afghanistan.”
In her opening statement, Foreign Minister Khar said Pakistan and Sweden had decided to double the existing volume of bilateral trade from $450 million to $900 million by 2014.
The Swedish foreign minister said his country endorsed Pakistan’s position that trade, not aid, was the solution to the problem.