Islamabad dismisses U.S. pressure on IPI

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Pressure from Washington will not influence Islamabad regarding its position on the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, the Pakistani foreign minister said.

Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, suggested in August that Washington might link funds committed by the Friends of Democratic Pakistan to Islamabad's role in IPI.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi dismissed the pressure, telling the Fars News Agency in Iran that Islamabad was committed to the project.

"The energy agreement with the United State leaves no impact on the gas pipeline construction agreement with Iran and Pakistan will by no means go under the U.S. pressures," he said.

Iran and Pakistan moved forward with provisions for the long-delayed IPI project in August, outlining details for the pipeline route and setting a construction date.

After much deliberation, Islamabad agreed to construct most of the pipeline through the southern province of Baluchistan.

Islamabad and Tehran in June signed a bilateral deal for the proposed 1,724-mile Iran-Pakistan-India natural gas pipeline. Pakistan would receive 750 million cubic feet per day from the South Pars gas field in Iran to generate electricity under the terms of a 25-year deal.

Qureshi said the only way Pakistan could meet its growing energy needs was through gas imports from Iran through IPI.