ID :
69990
Sun, 07/12/2009 - 17:42
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/69990
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No pressure on Pakistan to cancel Iran-Pakistan gas deal
Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Abdul Basit, here on Sunday said that there is absolutely no pressure on Pakistan to cancel the gas pipeline deal with Iran.
Talking to IRNA, he said that no country in the world whether it is Muslim or not could ask Pakistan to cancel the project.
“Iran is our brotherly Muslim neighbor, how could we cancel the deal knowing its importance for us, this is all fiction”, Abdul Basit made it clear.
Pakistan media earlier had reported that the United States and one Muslim country of the Middle East are exerting immense pressure on Pakistan to cancel the recently- signed gas deal with Iran and some US officials spent almost half the day in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to discuss the Iran deal.
Talking to daily ‘The News’, Adviser on Petroleum, Dr Asim Hussain refused to offer any comment on the identity of the two countries but conceded “tremendous pressure on cancelling the deal”.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Abdul Basit to a question replied that according to his information there is no such proposal to lay the gas pipeline on the bed of the Indian Ocean instead of Balochistan.
The Adviser on Petroleum, Dr Asim Hussain, has said that the sea route would be comparatively more secure and also cost-effective as “it would not only save $2 billion but also reduce the pipeline stretch by 150 km” — and that India could later join the project.
To a question about the dates of trilateral meeting between heads of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan, to be held in Islamabad, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Abdul Basit said that dates of the meeting have not yet been finalized.
End
Talking to IRNA, he said that no country in the world whether it is Muslim or not could ask Pakistan to cancel the project.
“Iran is our brotherly Muslim neighbor, how could we cancel the deal knowing its importance for us, this is all fiction”, Abdul Basit made it clear.
Pakistan media earlier had reported that the United States and one Muslim country of the Middle East are exerting immense pressure on Pakistan to cancel the recently- signed gas deal with Iran and some US officials spent almost half the day in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources to discuss the Iran deal.
Talking to daily ‘The News’, Adviser on Petroleum, Dr Asim Hussain refused to offer any comment on the identity of the two countries but conceded “tremendous pressure on cancelling the deal”.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Abdul Basit to a question replied that according to his information there is no such proposal to lay the gas pipeline on the bed of the Indian Ocean instead of Balochistan.
The Adviser on Petroleum, Dr Asim Hussain, has said that the sea route would be comparatively more secure and also cost-effective as “it would not only save $2 billion but also reduce the pipeline stretch by 150 km” — and that India could later join the project.
To a question about the dates of trilateral meeting between heads of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan, to be held in Islamabad, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Abdul Basit said that dates of the meeting have not yet been finalized.
End
