There are a number of thorny issues that will come under consideration during the Prime Minister’s visit to Iran.The gas pipeline between Iran and Pakistan is one. In my op-ed published December 24, 2013 I had written, “There could have been many reasons for Pakistan playing coy on the project; or maybe a mix of reasons. First, Pakistan may have dilly dallied owing to the rates at which it would have had to import the gas from Iran even after the project was completed. “Iran itself imports gas from Turkmenistan at USD 4/MMBtu while the price at which it would export to Pakistan is an exorbitant figure of USD 14/MMBtu”.Added to this is the fact that Iran herself imports gas; seasonal increases in the demand in winter makes it difficult for Iran to supply gas to Turkey as per their needs. “On October 1, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh himself raised concern about Iran facing serious gas shortage because of slow progress in raising levels of production from South Pars – the field that is supposed to fill the IP pipeline. If such factors were seriously taken into account, the pipeline agreement would likely have never been signed at the first place.” Another issue of burning importance to Iran will be Syria. In my op-ed dated September 03, 2013 titled, ‘Syria and the ‘Greater Iran’ I wrote, “There are the religious-geographic dynamics that cannot be overlooked. Hezbollah and Iran in hands with Alawites of Syria have been aiming at reviving the Greater Iran, keeping in view their own schismatic ideology, the effects of which reflect in the current proxy war in Pakistan. The geographic link formed is Hezbollah on one end, Syria and Iraq forming the center with Iran at the other end converging to solidify a unified religious school of thought. Is the Middle East or South Asia ready for the revival of a Greater Iran?” Coming to Afghanistan,“According to a report 70 per cent of media in the country today is controlled by Iran. Another report by Reuters says Iran spends $100 million a year in Afghanistan, much of it on media, civil society projects and religious schools; quoting Daud Moradian, a former foreign ministry advisor, who now teaches at the American University in Kabul (Published May 24, 2012). The impact of propaganda and one-sided “truth” are immense… Iran had supported non-Taliban groups in 1990s and may revert to doing so yet again. To accept a predominantly Sunni regime in the face of Taliban in power may result in a proxy war, supporting the Afghanistan’s Hazara populace that is mostly Shi’a. Iran’s pursuance of its schismatic policy in Afghanistan will continue to provoke divisions along the fault lines in Afghan society” (Published October 08, 2013). Iran is not the only country interested in developing friendlier relations with Afghanistan. India too has invested heavily in Afghanistan. “India has donated or helped to build electrical power plants, health facilities for children and amputees, 400 buses and 200 minibuses, and a fleet of aircraft for Ariana Afghan Airlines. India has also been involved in constructing power lines, digging wells, running sanitation projects and using solar energy to light up villages, while Indian telecommunications personnel have built digitised telecommunications networks in 11 provinces. One thousand Afghan students a year have been offered scholarships to Indian universities. India has also played a key role in the construction of a new Afghan parliament in Kabul at a cost of $25 million. pakistantoday.pk/2014/05/12/comment/pakistan-walking-the-tight-rope/
Posted on: Tue, 13 May 2014 03:13:28 +0000