The Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat has summoned theMinistry of Foreign Affairs and Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) toprovide information on reported objections from the US concerning themulti-billion-dollar Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project.
Tehran has claimed to have finished its part of the 1,150-kilometerpipeline, which had a groundbreaking ceremony attended by former presidentsAsif Ali Zardari and Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in March 2013, with an initialestimated cost of $7.5 billion. However as per agreement if Pakistan fallsto fulfil the agreement then it has to pay penalty worth $18 billion.
Pakistan had initially committed to completing its part of the project byJanuary 2015. However, in February 2014, then-petroleum minister ShahidKhaqan Abbasi informed the parliament that due to international sanctions,the Iran-Pakistan project was no longer being pursued.
Earlier this year, former petroleum minister Musadik Malik explained thatdespite honoring its contractual obligations under the Gas Sales andPurchase Agreement (GSPA), Pakistan couldn’t start construction due to USsanctions on Iran.
Pakistan had requested a solution from Washington to address the projectand energy shortages earlier this year but hadn’t received a response.
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In August, Pakistan issued a ‘Force Majeure and Excusing Event’ notice toIran, effectively suspending its obligation to complete the gas pipeline.Essentially, Pakistan expressed its inability to proceed with the projectas long as US sanctions on Iran remained in place, unless Washington gavetacit approval for it.
Today, during the Senate panel meeting, Petroleum Additional SecretaryHassan Yousafzai informed the committee that Iran had set a 2024 deadlinefor completing the gas pipeline, with potential fines for non-compliance.Efforts are underway to renegotiate the matter with Iran and explorealternative sources of gas.
