BANGLADESH INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AND STRATEGIC STUDIES

PROPOSED IRAN-PAKISTAN-INDIA GAS PIPELINE: IMPLICATIONS FOR REGIONAL COOPERATION IN SOUTH ASIA

Author: Mohammad Ashique Rahman

DOI Link: https://www.doi.org/BIISSj2008v29n3a3

ABSTRACT

For nearly one and half decades, India and Pakistan are negotiating with Iran for a transnational gas pipeline that would deliver gas to India via Pakistan. The rationale behind the pipeline are well conceived in terms of meeting increasing energy requirements of both India and Pakistan as well as providing a source of foreign currency for an oil dependent economy of Iran. However, a number of factors are hindering the project. The intra-regional political issues include basically the strained India-Pakistan relations that generate such serious concerns about the uninterrupted supply of gas to India as well as leaving India’s long-term energy security to an unfriendly nation. There is also concern about the infrastructural security of the pipeline since it will travel through the volatile region of Pakistan. Moreover, there is extra-regional pressure emanating basically from the USA opposing the pipeline in order to isolate Iran. In such a scenario, question arises as to the feasibility of the pipeline. The present paper attempts to answer such questions viz., do the present requirements for energy cooperation provide adequate impetus for the concerned countries to overcome the barriers to the pipeline? Can economic benefits win over political considerations? And if the project materializes what will be its impact on regional cooperation in the energy sector in South Asia in particular, and on South Asian regional integration in general? The paper argued that the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline project would contribute significantly to energy cooperation in the South Asia region that in turn would strengthen other regional cooperation initiatives in the region. Suggestions have been made for measures that would ensure security of the pipeline as well as guarantee uninterrupted supply of gas to India. It is suggested that the leaderships of the concerned countries need to embrace the concept of *geopolinomics’ to grasp the multifarious benefits of the pipeline, and must take initiatives for immediate implementation of the project.