Pakistan has stopped work on this gas pipeline since 2013 due to strong opposition from America.
Prime Minister Mohammad Shahbaz Sharif of Pakistan and President Syed Ibrahim Raisi of Iran. Photo: X/@ForeignOfficePk
Recently, during a visit by Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi to Pakistan, work on an international gas pipeline that had been in cold storage for decades was informed. It will start soon. According to the original plan, the gas pipeline was supposed to start from Aslawiya in Iran. It is connected to the Turkmen gas pipeline passing through Afghanistan in the city of Multan in Pakistan. Gas is then supplied to Fazilka in Punjab. India
But in 2009, India withdrew citing pressure from the United States. and shipping fees. The US has given India an exemption to purchase gas from Iran and package it as LPG at the Chabahar port. The cargo is not subject to US sanctions.
Pakistan has stopped work on this gas pipeline since 2013 due to strong opposition from America.
Although the blueprint for bringing gas from Iran to South Asia via pipeline has existed since the 1950s, Indian Prime Minister Narasimha Rao made it a reality in 1995 and a preliminary agreement was signed on the same day.
I remember the head of the Indian Energy Research Institute Rajendra Pachuri used to brief me on this matter every day. and inform the media about its features. of this tool When Mani Shankar Iyer was appointed as Petroleum Minister in 2004, he made it a point to complete the pipeline as quickly as possible. and in this regard appointed young diplomat Talmeez Ahmed as additional secretary in his ministry. and appointed him to be responsible for this part
But when negotiations began to sign the nuclear deal between India and the United States. Iyer also had to bear the brunt. He was fired from this ministry.
Why and how did Narasimha Rao remember this gas pipeline? It has an interesting story and strong ties with Kashmir. In March 1994, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights which is now known as the council It presented a resolution regarding Pakistan’s armed conflict. It condemned India’s human rights violations in Kashmir.
Unlike Palestine, Western countries took a softer stance on the issue of Kashmir at the time. It is believed that India is still under the influence of the now defunct Soviet lobby. If the draft is approved The plan must be submitted to the Security Council. which other Western countries Including the United States Economic sanctions are being imposed on India. Representatives of the Organization of the Islamic Conference are meeting in Geneva to finalize the resolution.
Indian Foreign Minister Dinesh Singh was seriously ill during this period. and was admitted to the intensive care unit of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. in new delhi A few days before the meeting, Prime Minister Rao arrived at the hospital late at night to inquire about the well-being of his foreign minister. No one knows for the next 24 hours. Someone else was sleeping on Dinesh Singh’s bed in his place.
Rao Bede and Dr Samit took Dinesh Singh with them and put him on an Indian Air Force plane. and sent a secret message to the Iranian president. On the other hand, the next day it was announced that the Indian delegation to Geneva would be led by opposition leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Deputy Foreign Minister Salman Khershid and former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Dr. Farooq Abdullah were also included in the delegation. This is an important step towards distraction.
On a March morning in 1994, when an Indian Air Force plane touched down at Tehran airport, Dinesh Singh was lying in a hospital bed. Appearing with the doctor on board was Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati. who came to the airport by himself at that time Still wondering what happened that the Indian Foreign Minister had to travel to Tehran in such conditions?
Khair Singh sent Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani’s letter to Prime Minister Rao. Then at the request of the President Meeting with President Natik Nouri and returning to his hospital bed at night, Rao realized that if the resolution was approved in Geneva and reached the Security Council, Russia is also not in a position to prevent it.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union Russia is still nursing its own wounds. And under the leadership of Boris Yeltsin, it is traveling west to get the economy back on track. India’s economic situation, on the other hand, has not improved at all. A few years ago The Bank of England pawned gold from the country’s treasury.
There is no information yet on the contents of Prime Minister Rao’s secret letter forcing Iran to withdraw from the resolution. Still waiting for a book by an investigative journalist or a seasoned diplomat. But after analyzing the steps taken or the message, there are some indications.
According to Bhadra Kumar, a former Indian diplomat, Rao asked Rafsanjani to save India from Western colonization. They claim that there is no dependency.
After Pakistan If there was any country that was actually active in Kashmir at the time, it was Iran, according to Kumar Rao, who knows at the Islamic Conference Organization. Decisions are made by consensus instead of voting, that is, even if a country If reservations were expressed, the vote would not be passed. That was before it got to the United Nations Commission. They want to end the OIC resolutions themselves.
A week before all these attempts, Ali Sheikh Raza Attar, the Iranian ambassador in New Delhi, A dinner party was held at his residence for Hurriyat leaders Syed Ali Gilani and Abdul Ghani Lun. They said the settlement in Kashmir was part of Iranian foreign policy. Four days later news came that the Islamic Conference organizations had differences over the resolution. Iran refuses to support any resolution. that will be beneficial to the western world
Pakistani Ambassador to Delhi Riaz Khokhar and Hurriyat leaders all disappeared. The Iranian ambassador himself does not know what beer is being produced in Tehran. But he is repeatedly convinced that India has made big concessions on Kashmir and the region in return. Which is probably not a good thing to refuse. They probably don’t know any better.
When Geelani Sahib arrived at the Jor Bagh house late at night, he took me with him to guide Abdul Ghani Lone was telling the Iranian ambassador that he had been a minister in the Indian establishment. So he has a good understanding of the workings of Indian leaders. Even though a promise has been made They won’t even mention their names once the pressure is off. That was also a promise, which was not made public in front of the media.
Not long after that The foundation stone of the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline was also laid and named the Peace Gas Pipeline. A few months later When Prime Minister Narasimha We traveled to Burkina Faso in Africa to attend the Non-Aligned Summit. He said any choice However, non-autonomous states can negotiate to find a final solution for Kashmir. His English phrase Sky is the Limit for Kashmir became very popular. But then there was no progress on the gas pipeline or the sky is the limit for Kashmir. As soon as global pressure subsides Both were buried.
Vajpayee and Farooq Abdullah has always been credited with influencing Iran in Geneva. Narasimha Rao never attempted to take this credit away from him during his lifetime. But two days before these leaders left for Geneva, Alil Dinesh Singh changed the game in Tehran with Rao’s Emma, ​​a top-shelf operation that reverberated in Delhi’s diplomatic circles decades later. This was Dinesh Singh’s last foreign visit and he died several months later.
