KARACHI: When Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visits Pakistan on Monday, experts believe that the two issues foremost on his mind, which he will want to discuss with his Pakistani counterpart President Asif Ali Zardari, will be border security and the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline.
“This visit comes at the most troubling time for the region,” Inter Press Service (IPS) quoted Senator Mushaid Hussain Sayed, chairman of the Islamabad-based Pakistan-China Institute, as saying. He pointed to the war in Gaza and the resurgence of terrorism from Afghanistan, which borders both Pakistan and Iran.
Added tension comes after retaliatory strikes by Israel and Iran. A suspected Israeli strike on an Iranian consulate in Syria at the beginning of the month was followed by a retaliatory attack by Iran on Israel on April 13. US officials say Israel responded, despite a plea by UN Secretary-General António Guterres for restraint.
The gas pipeline will be an uneasy conversation to hold for Zardari, but with the lives and livelihoods of over 240 million Pakistanis tied to this fuel, finding a solution is of paramount importance for the rulers.
Pakistan needs gas more for residential, commercial, and industrial purposes now than for power generation, said energy expert VaqarZakaria, heading the Islamabad-based HaglerBailley Pakistan, the environment consultancy company.
“Domestic consumers will be the immediate beneficiaries from the Iranian gas supply,” agreed leading sustainable development practitioner Abid Suleri, heading the Islamabad-based Sustainable Development Policy Institute. He also said the country’s economy will flourish manifold if the industry receives a steady supply of this gas.
“Iran has huge energy reserves such as crude oil and natural gas and is ready to meet the needs of friendly and neighbouring countries,” said Hassan Nourain, the consul general of Iran in Karachi, in an interview with IPS. In 2021, it was estimated that Iran had close to 1,203 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, the second largest after Russia.
Pakistan and Iran continued negotiating, and on May 24, 2009, the project was signed by the Pakistani and Iranian presidents for the supply of gas ranging from 750 million ft3/d to around 1 billion ft3/d, for 25 years, from the South Pars gas field in Iran and delivered at the Pakistan-Iran border, near Gwadar.
