In the story below, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi told the Pakistan House of Parliament flatly that the Pipeline would not be completed until the US lifts sanctions on doing business with Iran.
The IP Pipeline is vital to Pakistan's economy and important to both India and China, so the US sanctions against Iran are hurting more folks that Iranians.
How long will Pakistan defer to the US? How long can the sanctions last? Which nation are they mainly aimed at?
Iran is merely a pawn in the continuation of the Great Game for control of Central Asia, which in the 19 Century occupied England and Russia.
In this round of competitions, the competitors are the US and China, with Russia and the Turkic-Speaking nations playing a secondary role.
Being The Imperial Power of the World, as the US is, ain't easy. China would oust the US and has the advantage Russia had in the 19th Century of being on the ground in Central Asia. The US, like England in the 19th Century, controls the sea and also, so far, controls the sky. Control of the sky is where the battle will be won, by whom I cannot say.
Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline after lifting of sanctions: NA told
Monday, 24 February 2014 21:05
Posted by Imaduddin
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly was informed on Monday that Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline would be completed after lifting of international sanctions against Iran.
Answering a question during Question-Hour, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi told the House that the pipeline could not be completed until the sanctions against Iran were lifted.
He said the agreement for Iran-Pakistan pipeline was signed in 2009, but the work on the project inside Pakistan could not be started. The design for the project was complete and bids were also floated but nobody participated.
"The main reason for the delay in executing the project is imposition of sanctions against Iran and since the situation continues, purchase of gas from Iran was not possible," he explained in response to a supplementary question.
He said the matter was directly linked to the sanctions and once the same were lifted the project would be completed within 30 to 36 months. [Emphasis added.]
Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2014
Pakistan House of Parliament:
