'Govt delaying IP project to please US'
20.05.12
Pleasing US at the cost of the country suggests that the government is dominated by incompetent and apathetic officials, it said.
The country’s largest bank National Bank of Pakistan and the country’s largest exploration company Oil and Gas Development Company Limited last week backed out from the Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline on fears of possible sanctions by the US.
Pakistan cannot secure its future without Iranian gas, said Mughal.
Controversial measures like banning CNG kits in new and old cars and cutting supply to CNG stations for months in a country with the world’s highest consumption make no sense, he added.
Dr Murtaza Mughal said that Iran has brought the pipeline to the border and now Islamabad should immediately start building the remaining portion of the pipeline.
Decades have already been wasted in discussions and modifications, further wastage of time will jack up costs and leave the industry uncompetitive in the international market, he warned.
Source: The Express Tribune