Pakistan (and India) also Win from Iran Deal as Gas Pipeline Gets New Life

Pakistan is also among the winners from the deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program. India too can tap this pipeline from Iran gas, provided it mounts a diplomatic attack to bring round Pakistan.

A gas pipeline between the neighboring countries first discussed in the 1990s will finally become a reality, Pakistan’s Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said in a phone interview. Pakistan will start building its side of the pipeline in September, with a Chinese company doing the work.

Pakistan desperately needs the gas to help alleviate power shortages that have wreaked havoc on its economy. The pipeline had become a diplomatic sore point, with Iran last year threatening penalties if Pakistan didn’t start construction.

Pakistan will complete an 80-kilometer (50-km) section within six months after sanctions are lifted, Abbasi said. The entire 800 kilometers of the pipeline in Pakistan will be finished in about 30 months, he said. The Iran portion is almost completed.

Abbasi said that Iran still needs to complete 200 kilometers of the pipeline. Iran was in the “final stages” of construction, Iran’s Mehr News reported in November, citing Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh.

The pipeline may stretch 2,200 kilometers in total if it reaches all the way to India. Negotiations have stalled over pricing and other issues. Pak claims that India does not attend meetings.