You are here

  • Home
  • Pakistan says no basis for US objection to construction of Iran gas pipeline

Pakistan says no basis for US objection to construction of Iran gas pipeline

Special Pakistan says no basis for US objection to construction of Iran gas pipeline
Irani workers work on a section of a pipeline on March 11, 2013 at the Iranian border city of Chah Bahar. (AFP/File)
Short Url

https://arab.news/5q2ge

Updated 07 March 2024
Follow

Pakistan says no basis for US objection to construction of Iran gas pipeline

Pakistan says no basis for US objection to construction of Iran gas pipeline
  • On February 23, the Pakistani cabinet approved the construction of an 80-kilometer segment of the gas pipeline
  • $7.5-billion project has faced repeated delays since it was conceived in 1990s to connect Iran to Pakistan and India
Updated 07 March 2024
SAIMA SHABBIR
Follow

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Thursday it had decided to initiate work on an 80-kilometer-long segment of the Pakistan-Iran pipeline, with “no room for any objections” from a third party like the United States since the project was being constructed within Pakistani territory.

The $7.5-billion project for 2,775-kilometer (1,724 mi) pipeline has faced repeated delays since it was conceived in the 1990s to connect Iran’s giant South Pars gas field to consumers in energy-hungry Pakistan and India.

Pakistan has pursued the pipeline as a way of alleviating severe energy shortages that have crippled the economy. At the same time, Islamabad badly needs the billions of dollars it receives in aid from the United States, which has steadfastly opposed the project, saying it could violate sanctions imposed on Iran over nuclear activities Washington suspects are aimed at developing an atom bomb. Iran denies this.

On February 23, Pakistan approved construction of part of the pipeline amid fears of a potential $18 billion penalty for failing to complete the project on time.

“The cabinet of Pakistan decided, a few days ago, to start work on 80 kilometers of Pakistan-Iran pipeline, and this is the beginning of construction of the pipeline and it is in conformity with our commitment to the Iran-Pakistan pipeline,” Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, foreign office spokesperson, said at a weekly briefing on Thursday, in response to a question on whether Islamabad had contacted Washington on the decision to begin constructing the pipeline.

“And since this pipeline is being constructed inside Pakistani territory, we do not believe there is room for any objections by any third party at this stage.”

India, unlike Pakistan, quit the project in 2009, citing costs and security issues — a year after it signed a nuclear deal with Washington.

Pakistan, for its part, has made little progress on its section of the line for lack of funds and warnings it could be in violation of US sanctions on Iran, which sits on the world’s largest reserves of gas. Iran has spent hundreds of millions of dollars and nearly completed the 900-km (560 mile) pipeline to the Pakistan border.

WAR IN GAZA

Speaking on the situation in Gaza, Baloch said Pakistan welcomed the extraordinary session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) held on Wednesday in Jeddah, and supported CFM’s “strong condemnation” of Israeli aggression against civilians in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Territory.

Israel has killed over 30,000 Palestinian men, women, and children since October 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, while over 72,100 Palestinians have been injured in the war, which Israel refuses to call off despite growing calls from Muslim states, the United Nations, and global peace activists.

“The CFM has held the occupying power fully responsible for the ongoing genocide of civilians in Gaza and we join their call for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and cessation of Israeli aggression and the provision of unimpeded and adequate humanitarian, medical, and relief programs,” the spokesperson said, adding that Pakistan had also called for the provision of water and electricity and the opening of humanitarian corridors to deliver urgent aid.

“As we move toward the holy month of Ramadan, we call for urgent relief to the people of Palestine and unrestricted access to Palestinians to pray in the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque,” she added.

Baloch said Pakistan believed that the UN Security Council was mandated under the UN Charter to play its role in bringing an end to Israeli aggression. 

“We have been engaged with all members of the United Nations Security Council and we have urged them to play their part in bringing an end to this atrocity,” she added.

The spokesperson said the main hurdle in the provision of assistance was Israeli authorities who had closed the normal routes for the provision of assistance, including the Rafah border.

Baloch said Pakistan has sent six shipments of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, five of them through the Rafah border and one which was airdropped with the help of Jordanian authorities. 

“Our assistance has been in the form of medicines, tents, and food,” she added.

Topics: Pakistan Iran Ties Pakistan Iran gas pipeline

Pakistan’s finmin urges private sector to lead country by efficiently managing state assets

Pakistan’s finmin urges private sector to lead country by efficiently managing state assets
Updated 12 sec ago
Follow

Pakistan’s finmin urges private sector to lead country by efficiently managing state assets

Pakistan’s finmin urges private sector to lead country by efficiently managing state assets
  • Pakistan is actively trying to sell its stakes in state-owned assets to private companies
  • Muhammad Aurangzeb urges private companies to focus on export-oriented growth 
Updated 12 sec ago
Fatimah Amjad

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Saturday that the private sector has to lead the country by managing state-owned assets (SOEs) efficiently to help create fiscal space for the government. 

Islamabad has sought to privatize loss-making state enterprises which have accumulated losses in the billions over decades, by handing over their management to private companies to create fiscal space. 

Pakistan has identified 25 public sector enterprises for privatization, including the flagship carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), banks, hotels and power generation and distribution companies. Islamabad’s move to privatize the PIA and other state-owned enterprises is part of a deal with the IMF for financial bailout programs. 

“This is very important and I keep saying this repeatedly that the private sector has to lead this country,” Aurangzeb said during an event in Karachi. 

He added that SOEs were inflicting losses worth Rs2 billion ($7.1 million] per day to Pakistan, adding this amounts to Rs6 trillion yearly. 

“Think about this, this year we have to collect taxes worth Rs12.9 trillion, so approximately 50 percent of this, if there is no [financial] drag of the SOEs, if all of them are being run by the private sector, if this drag is not there then you can imagine our fiscal balance or imbalance it will become so much better,” he said. 

The Pakistani minister urged private companies to focus on exports, adding that while the country had achieved economic stability, it needed to achieve growth as well. 

“If we have to end this boom-bust cycle and if we have to take this economy toward to a 5, 6 and 7 percent growth, it has to be an export-led growth,” Aurangzeb said. 

Pakistan has made some economic gains in recent months, with the stock market performing impressively and breaching over 109,000 points at close of trade on Friday. 

Inflation in the country, which reached a record high of 38 percent in May 2023, slowed to 4.9 percent in November, lower than the government’s forecast. 

Topics: Pakistan FINANCE MINISTRY

Pakistan’s PIA to resume flights to Europe from Jan. 10 after four-year ban 

Pakistan’s PIA to resume flights to Europe from Jan. 10 after four-year ban 
Updated 07 December 2024
Follow

Pakistan’s PIA to resume flights to Europe from Jan. 10 after four-year ban 

Pakistan’s PIA to resume flights to Europe from Jan. 10 after four-year ban 
  • PIA’s authorization was suspended in June 2020 over concerns of not complying with international aviation standards
  • Pakistan’s national flag carrier to resume Europe operations with Islamabad-Paris flight, will operate two flights per week
Updated 07 December 2024
NAIMAT KHAN

KARACHI: The state-owned Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will resume its flights to Europe for the first time in four-and-a-half years on Jan. 10, 2025, an airline spokesperson confirmed on Saturday, after the EU aviation regulator lifted a ban on the national flag carrier. 

PIA’s authorization to operate in the EU was suspended in June 2020 over concerns about the ability of Pakistani authorities and its Civil Aviation Authority to ensure compliance with international aviation standards.

The suspension came days after Pakistan launched an investigation into the validity of pilots’ licenses issued in the country following a PIA plane crash that killed 97 people.

“On Jan. 10, 2025, PIA’s flight will depart from Islamabad for Paris,” the airline’s spokesperson said in a statement. “In the initial phase, two flights will be operated per week, which will be gradually increased.”

It said the flights will be operated on Fridays and Sundays, adding that the Jan. 10 flight will depart Islamabad at 11:30 am and arrive in Paris at 4:00 pm. 

The flight from Paris, meanwhile, will depart at 6:00 p.m. and arrive in Islamabad at 5:00 am. 

“The schedule is such that passengers will have breakfast in Pakistan and lunch in Paris,” the spokesperson said. 

Last Friday, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the lifting of the ban would strengthen the national flag carrier’s reputation and bring financial benefits to the airline.

The ban was costing PIA nearly 40 billion Pakistani rupees ($144 million) in revenue annually, according to government records presented in parliament.

PIA and the government had been pressing the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to lift the ban even provisionally. The government’s attempt to privatize the airline fell flat when it received only a single offer this year, that too well below its asking price.

In a statement, the PIA also vowed to abide by the EASA regulations as it welcomed the lifting of the ban.
 

Topics: PIA Europe PIA ban Pakistan Arab News Pakistan

Baloch separatists becoming as big a national security threat as Pakistani Taliban – think tank

Baloch separatists becoming as big a national security threat as Pakistani Taliban – think tank
Updated 07 December 2024
AP
Follow

Baloch separatists becoming as big a national security threat as Pakistani Taliban – think tank

Baloch separatists becoming as big a national security threat as Pakistani Taliban – think tank
  • Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies says surge in frequency of attacks by separatists shows evolution in their strategy 
  • Balochistan Liberation Army, Pakistan’s most prominent separatist group, carried out 12 attacks last month, killing 45 
Updated 07 December 2024
AP

ISLAMABAD: A Baloch separatist group is becoming as big a threat to Pakistan’s national security as the Pakistani Taliban, according to a think tank.

Last month, the Baloch Liberation Army killed dozens of people in the restive southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan. The deadliest assault was a suicide bombing at a train station in Quetta.

The BLA wants independence from the federal government, which last month launched an operation against armed groups operating in the province.

A report published Thursday by the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies said the surge in frequency and intensity of BLA attacks reflected a “significant evolution” in the group’s operational strategy and capabilities that required the government to update its approach.

The country experienced 61 terrorist attacks in November, a 27 percent increase from the previous month, said the report. The number of fatalities increased from 100 in October to 169 in November.

The BLA carried out 12 attacks last month. These killed 45 people, more than the fatalities from Pakistani Taliban attacks in November, the report added.

A research analyst from the institute, Safdar Sial, said the BLA was learning from the tactics of the Pakistani Taliban.

There was no ideological common ground between the two banned outfits, he said, but the BLA were successful at hitting soft targets to get big casualty numbers and deploying suicide bombers.

“This is not the same BLA as four or five years ago,” Sial told The Associated Press on Friday. 

“They are perpetrating tactical assaults. The targets have changed. The tactics have changed. It will be difficult (for the government) to tackle the threat that has developed.”

Though Pakistan’s largest province, Balochistan is its least populated. It’s also a hub for the country’s ethnic Baloch minority, whose members say they face discrimination by the government.

There are also deep grievances about enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and the exploitation of the abundant natural resources at the expense of people in the province.

Rights activists say that those who demand a greater share of natural resources often go missing after being detained by security forces.

The BLA enjoyed public support in the province by aligning itself with people’s concerns about enforced disappearances, state exploitation, and inequity, said Sial.

The group’s propaganda painted the casualties of its attacks as government collaborators or accused them of being from eastern Punjab province, he added.

The BLA has targeted people from the east of the country as part of its drive to expel outsiders from Balochistan, which lies in the southwestern part of Pakistan, bordering Iran.

Sial said the government needed to win “hearts and minds” in Balochistan because the BLA was recruiting young people.

Nobody from the provincial government was available for comment on the report.

But Balochistan’s former information minister Jan Achakzai said the state had curtailed the BLA’s ability to attack infrastructure, military installations and personnel, causing the group to pivot to softer targets. 

The BLA were a tactical threat, he said, while the Pakistani Taliban were a strategic threat, whose goal was to overthrow the government and impose its interpretation of Islamic law in the country.

And while there was no comparison between the Pakistani Taliban and the BLA when it came to size or external support, the Baloch separatists were increasingly audacious, ruthless — and they were making headlines, Achakzai said.

“The recent attack was an open space, a railway station, with no security. There were civilians. They (the BLA) come out on the main highways, which aren’t easy to man” with security, he said.

Topics: Baloch separatists Pakistani Taliban Pakistan

Pakistan slashes power tariff by Rs1.14 per unit in fuel price adjustment

Pakistan slashes power tariff by Rs1.14 per unit in fuel price adjustment
Updated 07 December 2024
Follow

Pakistan slashes power tariff by Rs1.14 per unit in fuel price adjustment

Pakistan slashes power tariff by Rs1.14 per unit in fuel price adjustment
  • Price reduction will be applied to electricity bills of December 2024, says state-run media 
  • Move likely to bring relief to businesses, citizens reeling from steep increases in electricity tariffs
Updated 07 December 2024
Hasaan Ali Khan

KARACHI: Pakistan’s National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has slashed the power tariff by Rs1.14 per unit as a fuel price adjustment measure, state-run media reported on Saturday, with the move likely to further ease inflation in the country. 

The decision is expected to provide relief to businesses and citizens, who have suffered from steep and sudden increases in electricity tariffs following energy sector reforms suggested by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, electricity charges had increased by 58.8% until May this year.

“According to a statement issued by the Power Division, NEPRA has once again reduced electricity prices by Rs1.14 per unit on account of fuel adjustment,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan said. 

“The price reduction will be applied to the bills of December.”

The state media said electricity prices would continue to decrease because of the government’s prudent measures.

Meanwhile, Energy Minister Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari said in a statement the government was determined to make electricity more affordable for the people.

Pakistan produces expensive electricity due to a combination of factors including high reliance on imported fossil fuels, inefficient energy mix, substantial transmission and distribution losses and chronic issues like circular debt and regulatory inefficiencies. 

The outdated infrastructure and inadequate power plants further exacerbate costs, while underutilization of domestic resources such as hydropower and coal add to the problem.

Additionally, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates and complex tariff structures contribute to higher electricity prices. High power cost is one of the key factors that lead to spiraling inflation in the country.

Topics: Power Electricity prices

‘Creeping coup’: In Pakistan, lack of Internet access is costing livelihoods

‘Creeping coup’: In Pakistan, lack of Internet access is costing livelihoods
Updated 07 December 2024
Reuters
Follow

‘Creeping coup’: In Pakistan, lack of Internet access is costing livelihoods

‘Creeping coup’: In Pakistan, lack of Internet access is costing livelihoods
  • Protest by thousands in Pakistan capital last month triggered Internet outages and slowdowns
  • Businesses relying on Internet say Pakistan could lose hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue
Updated 07 December 2024
Reuters

KARACHI: A protest by thousands in Pakistan’s capital last month demanding the release of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan triggered the arrest of hundreds, but also, digital rights campaigners say, nationwide Internet outages and slow-downs.
Pakistan has a record of curbing online access in response to political turmoil, banning social media sites or simply temporarily shutting down the Internet altogether.
The United States condemned Internet shutdowns in Pakistan following parliamentary elections in February in which Khan’s party won the most seats despite a crackdown on its activities.
Businesses that rely on the Internet have complained Pakistan could lose hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue as a result of the government’s imposition of a national firewall to monitor and regulate content and social media platforms and prolonged Internet disconnections.
The government denies any attempt at censorship.
“We’re seeing a loss of civilian control over basic IT and digital infrastructure, only made worse by a lack of transparency,” said Usama Khilji, a prominent digital rights activist. “It’s almost like a creeping coup.”
In Layyah, a small town in south-eastern Pakistan, getting steady Internet connection requires Sehrish Bano to hop from room to room balancing her laptop and toggling between the three different connections.
More often than not, she said, none of them work.
The 25-year-old said the poor, unreliable Internet connections hampered her ability to earn a living as a freelance video editor and complete her online graphic design course.
“I’m not able to take online classes because Zoom keeps freezing and I can’t understand what my teacher is saying,” she said. Compared to three months ago, “even simple things like sending an audio message via WhatsApp or downloading a picture or a PDF takes five times as long.”
Internet speeds have dropped by more than 30 percent in the last three months, Shahzad Arshad, chairman of the Wireless and Internet Providers Association of Pakistan, an advisory body of Internet service providers, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Arshad attributed the decline to the government’s deployment of “a web management system or firewall.”
Farieha Aziz, co-founder of Bolo Bhi, a digital-rights and civil-liberties group, said there had been no acknowledgement of an official firewall and accused authorities of not coming clean on the issue.
“It seems sustained opacity is the official government policy,” Aziz said.
Rights group Amnesty International has also called on Pakistan to be transparent about Internet disruptions.
“The opacity of the Pakistani authorities regarding the use of monitoring and surveillance technologies that block content, slow down and control Internet speeds is an alarming concern,” Jurre Van Bergen, Amnesty technologist said in August.
“Time and again, the use of such technologies, including national firewalls, has proven to be incompatible with human rights,” Van Bergen said.

DIGITAL CHASM
Aziz said it was clear the government’s aim was to clamp down on free speech and dissent.
“Never before,” she said, has the government “been able to disrupt a whole function of an app; usually the entire website or application stops working. But here we are seeing that only media files are being disrupted.”
Aziz said the issue was compounded by the government’s attempts to restrict the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), which encrypt data and mask IP addresses, allowing users to browse the Internet more securely.
The Pakistani government has said it would no longer pursue a ban on VPNs and denies any responsibility for slowing down of bandwidths nationwide.
The United Nations says Pakistan’s digital divide is vast — more than half the country does not have access to the Internet because of inadequate digital infrastructure and affordability challenges.
That divide could become a chasm, experts said.
“WhatsApp, sharing voice notes, links for education and work purposes, has become a way of life,” said Aziz. Government measures that slowed Internet speeds, or cut connections altogether, she said, were “creating digital haves and have-nots.”
The problem has become so bad that some whose livelihoods depend on Internet access are considering leaving the country.
Ehtesham Khan, a freelance photo editor and graphic designer, said he was contemplating moving to Dubai because frequent Internet disruptions had led to him losing clients.
And it is not just individuals who are thinking of leaving.
“Companies are already relocating to other places, Dubai, Singapore, where Internet access isn’t a problem,” Khilji said. “Our foreign income and Internet exports have reduced, and our IT industry’s potential is reducing by the day because of these issues.” 

Topics: Pakistan Internet

Latest updates

Qatar PM says ‘momentum is coming back’ to Gaza talks after US election
Qatar PM says ‘momentum is coming back’ to Gaza talks after US election
Pakistan national airline to resume flights to Europe after ban lifted
Pakistan national airline to resume flights to Europe after ban lifted
Jafel Filho triumphs over Amir Albazi at eighth edition of Abu Dhabi Extreme Championship in Al-Ain
Jafel Filho triumphs over Amir Albazi at eighth edition of Abu Dhabi Extreme Championship in Al-Ain
Israeli strikes kill at least 29 at hard-hit Gaza hospital
Israeli strikes kill at least 29 at hard-hit Gaza hospital
On the grid gantry with FIA’s first female official F1 starter
On the grid gantry with FIA’s first female official F1 starter

Search form

Print Edition
Read pdf version Subscribe now
© 2024 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.