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Rising insurgency in Balochistan could disrupt plan for a transnational pipeline to deliver natural gas from Iran to Pakistan and India, Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
The proposed $4 billion pipeline, a key priority for the federal government, will pass through a large swatch of the troubled province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan. Armed Baloch nationalists have been stepping up attacks on Pakistani government targets in recent weeks.
The natural-gas project holds the promise of big economic and political dividends for Islamabad and New Delhi. Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, in an interview last week, said he hoped cooperation on the project would help ease tension with India over issues such as Kashmir, while shoring up future energy supplies for both countries. Pakistan will net an estimated $500 million in annual fees alone from the project for letting the pipeline through its territory.
And the pipeline will give India access to some of Iran?Ts huge natural-gas reserves as New Delhi attempts to switch energy consumption from expensive foreign oil to cheaper natural gas wherever it can. ?oIt?Ts more abundantly available,? WSJ quoted Indian Petroleum Minister Mani Shanker Aiyar as saying in a recent interview. ?oWe are only one country away from [Iran], which has [some of] the largest deposits in the world.? But the escalating political violence in Balochistan could derail ?" or at least delay ?" the project before it even gets under way. ?oIn the present situation, one cannot guarantee the safeguard of the pipeline,? said a Pakistani expert involved in the feasibility study for the project.
Islamabad is beefing up its military presence in the province to meet the threat, with Pakistani military police setting up checkpoints and paramilitary troops patrolling the streets of Quetta, the provincial capital. The measures followed a spate of attacks in recent weeks by tribal insurgents on vital economic installations, government buildings and security forces.
In an effort to get the Iran gas pipeline project moving, Energy Ministers of India and Iran will visit Pakistan soon to finalize modalities for the implementation of the much awaited natural gas pipeline that will pass though Pakistan.
Stating this, Pakistan?Ts Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said that Indian Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar had already been invited to Pakistan. ?oThe Iranian Minister would also be coming here in a few weeks,? he was quoted as saying. ?oDuring my visit to India, I had offered Prime Minister Manmohan Singh an energy corridor.
I told him that both India and Pakistan needed gas to meet their requirements. It could be imported from Turkmenistan via Afghanistan or directly from Iran. Another option of importing gas from Qatar was also discussed,?o Aziz was quoted as saying. ?oInter-dependency and linkages always help improve relations (between nations),?o Aziz told reporters in Lahore. | 
