After Iran and Pakistan experienced a few days of rising tensions in their bilateral relations last January, the two are now moving on the path of increasing cooperation.
According to a report by Pakistan’s Geo News, the Pakistani government approved this Saturday that it has started the construction work on the first phase of the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline, which if completed, will increase Pakistan’s energy security.
“Islamabad’s Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) approved the construction of the Pakistani segment of the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline from the Iranian border to the strategic port area of Gwadar in southwestern Balochistan province,” the report noted
At an estimated cost of $158 million, the report said that the move is in line with last-ditch effort to ward off Pakistan’s $18 billion in potential penalties from Iran. The Pakistani Interstate Gas Systems (Pvt) Ltd will be the executor of the project.
“All the concerned divisions gave a positive nod to move ahead with the project to ensure gas supplies to the people of Pakistan, thereby addressing the increasing energy needs of the country,” the report added.
The Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project, which is 2,775km long, was launched in July 2013. Iran says it has already completed its side of the pipeline and has invested $2 billion in the project. Pakistan was initially expected to complete its part of the project by December 2014.
However, the Pakistani side missed several deadlines in the construction process due to long-standing US sanctions against the Islamic Republic. In September 2023, a senior Pakistani Petroleum Ministry official said in a letter to the Senate committee that the country was negotiating with Iran to escape a potential $18 billion liability penalty and complete the project by the end of 2024. According to estimates by Pakistani officials, the country would be able to avoid an 18 billion US dollar fine by completing the pipeline.
No hard feelings between Tehran and Islamabad!
Pakistan’s resumption of its energy cooperation projects with Iran is happening while less than two months ago, the two countries were experiencing rising tensions in their bilateral relations.
On January 16, Iran carried out missile and drone strikes in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, killing at least two and injuring three. Tehran said the rare border intrusion was aimed at targetting Jaish al-Adl, a Sunni Muslim armed group responsible for attacks inside the Iranian territory of Sistan-Baluchestan for years.
Less than two days later, Pakistan responded with “precise” military strikes inside Iran that killed at least nine people, including four children and three women. Iranian media reports, quoting state officials, said those killed were “non-Iranians”, implying they could have been Pakistani nationals.
After tit-for-tat military strikes on each other’s territory in mid-January, many experts thought that tensions could very well escalate between the two neighboring countries. However, Saturday’s announcement by Pakistan shows that there is no hard feeling between the two countries and they are still counting on each other as partners.
