The completion of Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline Project—aka Peace Pipeline—will lead to fundamental economic changes in Pakistan.
Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan Mehdi Honardoust made the statement while addressing an international panel on "Pakistan Geopolitics' Requirements" in Islamabad on Sunday, IRNA reported.
Honardoost said Iran desires enhanced trade with Pakistan and the Peace Pipeline could help change Pakistan’s future.
Congratulating Islamabad on the establishment of the new government headed by the newly-elected Prime Minister Imran Khan, he stressed that the implementation of the long-awaited gas venture can not only ease the burden on the Pakistani administration's expenses but also help fight budget deficit.
According to the ambassador, the gas venture's implementation will create jobs in Pakistan's deprived regions, assisting its economy to grow in different sectors.
Calling on the new government to take advantage of Iran's developed infrastructure to export natural gas, Honardoost noted that Tehran is ready to provide the neighboring state with the much-needed fuel to run its power plants as well as other industrial units.
The state-run National Iranian Gas Company is currently exporting gas to Iraq and Turkey.
Honardoost noted that the US reimposition of unilateral sanctions against Iran's oil sector does not apply to the bilateral gas project.
Iran and Pakistan signed an agreement in 2009 to lay a pipeline to deliver 22 million cubic meters per day of gas from the South Pars Gas Field in the Persian Gulf to Pakistan's Balochistan and Sindh provinces.
The pipeline's construction was to commence in 2012 and be completed in two years. However, Islamabad has failed to show sufficient determination to complete the pipeline on its territory, blaming financial constraints.
According to reports, about 900 kilometers of the pipeline have been laid in Iran, but Pakistan has dithered over constructing 700 kilometers of the pipeline in its territory.
Reportedly, the two countries are expected to initiate in September the much-awaited parleys on how to advance the Peace Pipeline project that was earlier shelved by the previous government in June 2016.
In June 2016, Pakistan shelved the project in the wake of pressure from a Persian Gulf country, irking the authorities in Iran at that time and subsequently, Tehran indicated that it might move the arbitration court against Pakistan for not completing the project on its territory.
Pakistan hopes Iran will not move the arbitration court on gas project.
Uplifting Economy
In a meeting with Honardoost, Imran Khan said Pakistan seeks trade ties with all neighboring countries, especially Iran.
"Uplifting the national economy is my top priority," Imran Khan said, adding that his country is willing to hold constructive talks with Tehran on the long-delayed initiative.
Pakistani officials, including Fawad Hussain Chaudhry, the spokesperson of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, believe that the Peace Pipeline and the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project are both important for Pakistan.
The two projects are on hold because of some political considerations. According to Chaudhry, economic considerations must surpass political issues. The economy is more important for our people than politics.
“We would like to work closely with Iran on the Peace Pipeline. Likewise, we want TAPI to be completed as soon as possible,” he added, noting that the US is a big hurdle to this end.
Energy experts, including Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, maintain that the TAPI gas pipeline project is unlikely to pose a challenge to the postponed plan to export Iran's gas to Pakistan.
"It is an extremely difficult task to mend ties between Pakistan and India," Zanganeh said last month, playing down the prospects of collaboration between the two states overshadowed by mistrust and war.
Zanganeh blamed Pakistan of underperforming in its joint gas pipeline project with Iran.
