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Pak says no to US dictates on Iran pipeline issue | Pakistan has said it would not note down dictates from the United States pertaining to its relationship and cooperation in energy sector with Iran. Addressing a regular briefing, Foreign
Office (FO) spokesman Abdul Basit said Islamabad has already signed an agreement
over the gas pipeline project (IP pipeline) with Tehran and would continue to
cooperation in all fields with it. “We would like to have cooperation with Iran
in all areas. If there are opportunities, Pakistan will pursue those. We have
concluded the IP gas pipeline project with Iran . … This is our sovereign decision
and the government of Pakistan will take decisions only in consonance with its
own national interests,” The Dawn quoted Basit, as saying. The statement comes
on the eve of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani ’s meeting with US President Barack
Obama on the sidelines of the nuclear security summit, which is scheduled to take
place in Washington on April 12 and 13. The Obama Administration has been advising
Pakistan against entering into gas pipeline agreement with Iran . “We do not think
it is the right time for doing this kind of transaction with Iran ,” US Assistant
Secretary of State Robert Blake had said recently. Blake said America has asked
Pakistan to seek alternatives for pipeline project because of a dispute over Iran
’s nuclear programme. Basit also hinted that Pakistan does not want Iran to be
censured in the upcoming two-day nuclear summit. “We have been actively involved
in the preparatory process of the nuclear security summit and I can tell you that
its outcome will not be country specific,” he said. Meanwhile, in an attempt to
strike a delicate balance in its relations with the US and Iran , Pakistan has
decided to attend the international disarmament conference convened by Tehran
on April 17 and 18. |
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