Indian news agencies have reported for years that India objects to an Iranian proposal that India pay for any gas when it reaches the Iran-Pakistan border. That would mean India would have to pay for any gas that Pakistan diverted to its own or that was lost by sabotage to the pipeline inside Pakistan. Pakistani pipelines are severed every few weeks by rebels in Pakistani Baluchestan, but are repaired quickly.
According to Dawn, Iran tried to meet India’s concerns by urging Pakistan to give India a guarantee that any gas India contracted for India would receive or Pakistan would pay for it.
Dawn said Pakistan has now balked at that because Pakistan would then be required to pay penalties to India for gas disrupted by sabotage or even in the case of war between the two countries.
Dawn quoted unnamed sources as saying Pakistan had told Iran that a friendly project between two neighborly Muslim countries should not become a victim to the interests of some non-Muslim third country.
Dawn said Pakistan and Iran had resolved almost all the other issues such as pricing, quantity and construction details.
However, if the project goes forward without India, it will be an entirely different project, requiring a pipeline with a much smaller diameter, which would change all the financial considerations.
If Pakistan holds to its refusal to provide guarantees to India, the ball will be back in Iran’s court to accept India’s proposal that India pay only for that gas which reaches the Indian border.
Interestingly, Iran’s refusal to accept that formula suggests that Iran doesn’t trust Pakistan any more than India does.
