US opposition to IP Gas Pipeline "counterproductive response" to Pakistan's sacrifices: Ex-envoy

ISLAMABAD: Opposition of the United States to Iran-Pakistan Gas Pileline is a "counterproductive response" to Pakistan's incalculable sacrifices rendered in the erstwhile cold war and the current war on terror, said former Envoy B A Malik.

Appreciating the bold stand of President Asif Ali Zardari on the IP gas pepline project, Malik in a statement on Wednesday said, that this was equivalent to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's resolve to achieve self-reliance in energy sector.

He said he (Z A Bhutto) stood his ground and succeeded in his endeavour in making Pakistan a nuclear power even when the United States had threatened to make a horrible example out of him.

He said the nation supported the founder of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) unconditionally without any reservation.

The former Envoy said President Zardari deserved a similar backing from the entire nation on the issue of IP pipeline project.

He said the US had opposed Pakistan's nuclear programme even pressurizing France to cancel the nuclear reprocessing plant deal which it had pledged in writing.

B A Malik said now in the same tradition Washington was offering Islamabad a lollypop, persuading it to forget the Iranian gas.

Malik said if America does not respect Pakistan's energy needs how can the people of Pakistan consider the sole superpower as their friend.

Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS) led by Senator Raza Rabbani had rightly emphasized the imperative need for us to trade freely with our next door neighbours including Iran, he said, adding "We can choose our friends but not our neighbors."

He said without integration of economies in the neighborhood, Pakistan could not win the war against terror and poverty.

"If our Parliament ditches IP gas pipeline under pressure, any review of new terms of engagement with the United States will back fire," he said, adding that consensus on IP pipeline could whittle down discord on other contentious issues paving the way to a more peaceful and intolerance free Pakistan.

B A Malik said any price to import gas from Iran was, therefore, worth paying regardless of the arm twisting tactics of the Western allies.