Jettisoning all professions of abiding friendship with Pakistan, the US has threatened it with sanctions, harking back to the days of the Pressler and Symington Amendments. Secretary of State Clinton told the House Appropriation Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations on Wednesday that Pakistan could face sanctions if it pressed ahead with the Iranian gas pipeline (IP) project. She was answering Congressman Jerry Lewis’ question about the US response if Pakistan went ahead with this project. She warned that with the already weak economy, “this additional pressure the United States would be compelled to apply would further undermine their economic status.” The Iranian offer of $250 million for the IP project and supply of 80,000 barrels of oil a day appears to have triggered this severe reaction.
Reportedly, a high-level meeting chaired by President Zardari was held in Islamabad to discuss the Pak-US relations in the light of, among other things, our plans to build a pipeline to get the natural gas from Iran. The meeting left it to Parliament to decide upon the future state of Pak-US relations. In the face of Clinton’s warning, the energy-deficient Pakistan faces a dilemma. It is compelled to go without power for hours on end every day that has ruined its economy and disturbed life. It finds the Iranian gas project the most feasible. The Turkmenistan option that the US favours instead, is not a substitute, but an additional project, which Pakistan is already working on. However, the timeline for this project is significantly longer, since the pipeline would have to pass through a particularly disturbed area of Afghanistan.
Already the subject of US criticism for its perceived failure to abide by the terms of the war on terror and facing big cuts in the promised aid Pakistan has given indication of taking a courageous stand and ignoring the bully-ish warning. Should the sanctions be imposed, all that the people and, of course, the leadership need to do is to adopt austerity measures in every sphere of life and fully and sincerely exploit the local resources. As for Washington, it has already opted for India to the detriment of our interests. Islamabad has, after all, served its purpose in the war on terror for more than 10 years and no longer figures much in the strategic scheme of things in the region. The US eyes are fixed on the containment of China and the plentiful energy resources of Central Asian region. In its exit from Afghanistan, Pakistan has no doubt, a crucial role to play especially in helping bring about peace in the post-withdrawal period, but if the example of Iraq is to go by, it will be a thankless task and perhaps one we would prefer to stay well away from. That would raise the prospects of Obama’s re-election this year. Building up the bogey of Iran as a threat to the American and Israeli interests and the punitive action the US takes to destroy Iranian economy (the IP project would help sustain it) would bring in more votes for him. Yet, a united and determined nation can scale all hurdles and successfully emerge from the most straitened of conditions.
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