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Monday, June 21, 2010
Pakistan should avoid gas deal with Iran: US
* Holbrooke says new US legislation on Iran’s energy sector may apply to the project and Islamabad should ‘wait and see’
* Reconciliation with Haqqani hard to imagine
* US will remain engaged with Pakistan regardless of what happens in AfghanistanISLAMABAD: Pakistan should be wary of committing to an Iran-Pakistan natural gas pipeline deal because anticipated US sanctions on Iran could hit Pakistani companies, US Special Representative to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke said on Sunday.
Talking to foreign journalists, he said Washington wanted Pakistan to “wait and see” what laws would be passed against Iran and only take a decision once the US Congress is done with the new legislation.
In a joint briefing with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Saturday, Holbrooke had said, “Pakistan is an independent country and the US has no concern over the Pak-Iran gas pipeline project”.
However talking to reporters on Sunday, he said, “Pakistan has an obvious, major energy problem and we are sympathetic to that, but in regards to a specific project, legislation is being prepared that may apply to the project.”
“We caution Pakistanis not to over-commit themselves until we know the legislation,” he added.
The country is plagued by chronic electricity shortages that have led to mass demonstrations and battered the government.
The $7.6 billion natural gas pipeline deal, signed in March, does not directly deal with refined petroleum products and was hailed in both Iran and Pakistan as highly beneficial.
Holbrooke’s tenth trip to Pakistan since his appointment follows a series of working groups this week that are part of the US-Pakistan strategic dialogue, which both countries said would lay the groundwork for a new relationship.
Afghanistan was on the agenda in meetings, Holbrooke said, including discussions on a Pakistani role in talks between the Afghan Taliban and the Kabul government.
But the US does not support Pakistan pushing the Jalaluddin Haqqani network, one of the strongest factions of the Afghan insurgency, into talks with Kabul as Washington sees the group too tightly allied with al Qaeda.
Hard: Holbrooke said it was “hard to see that happening”, referring to the inclusion of the Haqqani network in the potential talks.
“The Pakistanis are trying to deal with this problem, they are well aware of it and even in North Waziristan there is some activity going on, but there is a lot more that could be done if the resources were available,” he said.
The special envoy said the US would remain engaged with Pakistan regardless of what happened in Afghanistan.
“Pakistan matters in and of itself. Whatever happens in Afghanistan, the US cannot turn away from Pakistan again,” he said. agencies
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk