China may join Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline
Business Saturday, February 6th, 2010Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki indicated that China might join the Pak-Iran Gas Pipeline Project very soon but he blamed Washington for destabilising not only Afghanistan but also Pakistan and said that the presence of US troops in the region was even a big threat for the security of Iran.
Talking to a Pakistani media delegation in Tehran he said, “Increase in the number of US troops in Afghanistan could create a new crisis for the whole region in 2010 and we are holding Obama responsible for that crisis before time”.
Mottaki answered all the questions posed by Pakistani journalists very candidly and said that Afghanistan had become more unsafe and problematic after the arrival of US troops in the region since 2001.”US forces are bombing wedding parties and killing innocents in Afghanistan, they do not bother why the poppy production has crossed more than 8,000 tons a year despite their presence in Afghanistan when it was only a few hundred tons in 2001. They cannot resolve our problems, they can only increase our problems,” Mottaki taunted.
Mottaki also commented about the law and order situation in Pakistani and Iranian parts of Balochistan. He said that a terrorist group with the name of Jundullah led by Abdul Malik Ragie was responsible for bomb explosions and kidnappings in Iranian Balochistan and this group had some safe havens in Pakistan. He said, “We expect Pakistan to take action against this terrorist group as soon as possible, or start a joint operation with us against them or allow us to take action against them in Pakistan on our own”.
Ten Iranian Revolutionary Guards were arrested on October 26, 2009 two kilometers inside the Pakistani territory when they were chasing some Iranian drug smugglers. Mottaki said that Iran would not start any operation in Pakistani part of Balochistan without the permission of Islamabad.
He said that some powers were trying to create misunderstandings between Iran and Pakistan through some terrorist groups. The kidnapping of Iranian diplomat Heshmatollah Attarzadeh on November 14, 2008 from Peshawar was another point of his concern.
He said that Iranian Parliament had called him 10 times to explain why Pakistan had failed to recover the kidnapped Iranian diplomat. Why Pakistan had failed to destroy hideouts of Jundullah in Balochistan but “I am trying my level best to play down the tension because it will benefit only our common enemies.”
He also said that stability in Iranian and Pakistani parts of Balochistan was a must for the success of the gas pipeline between the two countries. Iranian foreign minister claimed that Iran was ready to start the “peace pipeline” project anytime. All the details between Pakistan and Iran in this regard had already been finalized. India still needed some time but “we can even start the project without India,” Mottaki announced.
He blamed the US for trying to sabotage the gas pipeline project and said, “Growing relations between US and India should not affect the relations of India with other countries of the region.”
He was confident that Pakistan would not hesitate to start the gas pipeline project despite the US pressure. He said, “We must not allow any third country to interfere in the bilateral relations of Iran and Pakistan.”
Mottaki said that President Asif Ali Zardrai visited Iran twice in last 20 months and Iranian President Ahmadinijad had visited Pakistan once and he would visit Pakistan again in near future. He was sure that coming visit of Iranian president to Islamabad would bring a big breakthrough in the relations of the two countries.
“We will sign some new agreements for cooperation in the field of defence, intelligence cooperation, trade and commerce in the coming visit of Iranian president to Pakistan,” Mottaki said.
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on Feb 6 2010. Filed under