Higher energy prices: Pak-Iran gas project must be revived  Pak-Iran gas project is in the news once again as the nation is alarmed at the new findings and concern voiced by Public Accounts Committee, which said last week that we would have to pay a massive amount of $18 billion in penalty if the work on the project did not resume immediately. The PAC has also said: US should pay the penalty if it does not approve of Pakistan and Iran going ahead with the gas pipeline project because the project is in limbo due to the US, which does not approve it.  According to a newspaper report, the government of Pakistan has sought an explanation from the United States on the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project, in which it is certainly right because cheap sources of energy and fuel are indispensable for the economic development of Pakistan, like every country in the world.  There is no reasonable justification for any other country to obstruct it. However, according to the sources of the Ministry of Energy, the efforts to raise this matter with the United States several times in the last few years have not yielded any positive results, while Pakistan needs an immediate response from the United States to take a final decision on this important project soon.  A few days ago, the Public Accounts Committee expressed its concerns and said that if we do not complete this gas pipeline project, Pakistan will have to pay a heavy fine of 18 billion dollars. The Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee. Noor Alam Khan rightly opined in the committee meeting that the US has to end its double standards, showing lenience to India's energy needs but punishing Pakistan for the same.  Therefore, if a fine is imposed on Pakistan, it should be paid by the United States. In view of the rapid changes in the balance of global power, it would not be wrong to say that the era of American arbitrariness is coming to an end, China's Factors such as the restoration of Saudi-Iran relations with the cooperation of China and the new era of Pak-Russia relations are the announcement of new international relations era.

Pakistan should not obstruct projects like the Iran gas pipeline as this approach will further shrink its sphere of influence. Meanwhile, Pak-Iran authorities are working to revive this project in the wake of recent efforts by the current coalition government to take Pak-Iran ties to new level of understanding and friendship. Last year, in the meeting of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif with Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi on the occasion of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly, the two leaders rightly reiterated that the relations between Pakistan and Iran are not only normal but also free from all differences, the two are good neighbors and built on the foundation of Islamic brotherhood. This common thought makes it sad that the first country to recognize Pakistan is Iran and the recent restoration of Saudi-Iran relations and the welcome progress will be a milestone in the development and prosperity of the region including Pakistan.

Apart from this scenario, a very important issue is Pakistan-Iran bilateral trade under which both countries are in favor of mutual cooperation in goods and services. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Iranian President Syed Ibrahim Raisi jointly inaugurated the first market jointly established at the 900-km-long Pakistan-Iran border crossing point and the 100 MW transmission line of electricity supplied from Iran to Gwadar. He expressed that we should move forward in trade, investment, IT, agriculture and other economic fields. The two leaders along with their respective teams agreed to finalize the free trade agreement soon. It must be mentioned here that Pakistan has been suffering from the energy crisis for more than three decades and today the electricity sector is facing extreme levels of revolving debt and increasing load shedding and shortage of oil and gas. While the current economy cannot afford to meet these needs from overseas at very high prices, Iran has once again shown interest in supplying them and in return increasing the import of Pakistan's agricultural and industrial products.

While access to cheap electricity is the most important step, establishment of common markets at crossing points will help prevent smuggling worth billions of rupees. Iran is a very important country for Pakistan in providing cheap oil and gas and electricity and the previous government of the People's Party had also signed an agreement to bring a gas pipeline from there. Iran is a major buyer of various Pak goods while other exports include cloth and cement. There has been an uninterrupted exchange of trade delegations between the two countries and the government leaderships have repeatedly met and agreed with each other, but in the context of the situation in the region, some political maneuvers came up which had an impact on mutual trade, this is the reason why today the trading volume is much less than its potential.

According to the agreement reached in 2016, it was agreed to increase it from 300 million dollars to 5 billion dollars by 2021. This program is still in full swing today.

Pakistan has invited the Iranian President to visit Pakistan soon in the above-mentioned high-level meeting on the Pak-Iran border so that progress can be made on the pending agreements, which has been welcomed by the Iranian leadership. Iran has offered full cooperation to Pakistan in the energy sector. It must be expressed here that long-time friends and trading partners including the People's Republic of China and other neighboring countries have the full capacity to meet each other's living needs through mutual trade, which not only can promote the barter system. Rather, it will promote the Pak rupee’s value.

Published in The Daily National Courier, May, 24 2023

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