Progress on Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline, also known as ‘Peace Pipeline’, has been inching forward
since its inception in the early 1990s though much ambitious and dynamic rhetoric has been in action after the
revival of negotiations in February 2004. The US$ 7 billion (a re-estimated project cost), 3,000-kilometer
pipeline venture, after originating from Iran’s southern port city of Asalouyeh and traversing through the rugged
and restive provinces of Balochistan and Sindh in Pakistan, would see its final destination in New Delhi and
Mumbai in India. All the three countries are currently hammering out contentious issues like gas prices,
transportation tariffs, pipeline security and the latest snag, Iran’s right to review the gas price.
During talks in July 2006, negotiations stalled when Tehran demanded a higher price per mBtu (million British
thermal units) against what New Delhi and Islamabad had to offer. Even after India and Pakistan agreed to pay
US$ 4.93 per mBtu this February, Iran insisted that the countries should understand ‘market realities’ when
dealing with such a long-term project, arguing that prices should be reviewed every three years. India and
Pakistan, nonetheless, wanted US$ 4.93 per mBtu to remain basis of pricing of natural gas for the entire 25-year
The Term Paper on Pakistan India Relation
The history of South Asia is laden more with the incidents of hostilities than with the memories of friendship. Zooming in, between Pakistan and India, the arch rivals, enmity overrides empathy. At the hostility level, between Pakistan and India, the Cold War era (1947-1991) was a characteristic of at least two full scale wars in 1965 and 1971 while the post-Cold War era experienced only a ...
duration of the contract. As per the proposed contract, 60 million metric standard cubic meters of gas per day
would be available to India and Pakistan (split equally) in the first phase of the project.
India, Pakistan and Iran started a final round of discussions on June 27 in New Delhi to resolve differences on
the pipeline before the three nations could sign a final deal. Price revision clause (asserted by Iran) remained
contentious whereas Pakistan and India agreed on transportation tariff of 0.70 dollars per mBtu, demanded by
Pakistan; India previously was not willing to pay more than 0.55 dollars per mBtu ($220 million annually).
As
regards the transit fee, Pakistan has been demanding transit fee for the whole stretch of the pipeline from Iran to
Indian border. But India feels that since Pakistan will also use the pipeline, it should only pay for the extension
of the project to its border. Moreover, Pakistan is seeking a transit fee of 0.493 dollars per mBtu while India has
offered 0.20 dollars per mBtu.
Another issue that could jeopardize the project is the physical security of the pipelines, especially in the volatile
regions of Pakistan. A January 2005 incident in which Baloch rebels launched a series of attacks on the Sui gas
field, disrupting fuel supplies in Pakistan, still has India worried. Though Pakistan has agreed to post a heavy
guard on the portion of the pipeline that runs through its territory, India is holding out for a commitment that
transcends politics and paperwork. India is seeking a strong moral and ethical commitment from both Iran and
Pakistan should relations turn sour and endanger the project midway.
Hurdles and pressures notwithstanding, it seems that all three nations are interested in moving forward with the
IPI for its clear economic, political and strategic benefits. Despite the remaining unresolved issues, one positive
conclusion can be drawn from Iran’s Petroleum Ministry representative Ghanimi Fard, who expressed strong
optimism on the sidelines of a Delhi meeting in late June. Fard indicated that Iran would start sending natural
The Term Paper on India pakistan Nuclear Threat part 1
India-Pakistan Nuclear Threat In May 1998, India carried out five nuclear tests and formally declared itself a "nuclear weapon state" (NWS). This dramatic move stunned the world and immediately triggered a new round of the nuclear arms race in South Asia. India's archenemy, Pakistan, responded by setting off six announced nuclear tests just two weeks later. The nuclear crisis in South Asia was ...
gas from its South Pars gas field by 2011 at the latest.
For now, all eyes are on the forthcoming ministerial level meeting, which will possibly obliterate the remaining
hurdles, including the periodic price revision clause, before the three heads of state sign off on the pipeline
dream.
India:
Developing Asian economies and populations- particularly India and Pakistan- are major contributors to the
increased energy demand. India is the sixth largest energy consumer in the world. One alternative to increased
oil consumption for India is to shift to natural gas, which diversifies supply options. For India, the options to
import gas from the Caspian Basin, particularly from fields in Turkmenistan and Iran, have been actively
discussed for almost two decades at the academic, government, and industry levels.
India has been anxiously looking for some sort of materialization to its 3 mostly followed (proposed) gas
pipelines besides LNG imports: Gulf-Iran-Pakistan-India, Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India and Iran-
Pakistan-India pipelines. The latter two are in the limelight. The major impetus for this energy pull for India is
its deteriorated domestic energy sector and energy needs increasing by more than 100 per cent. The
development of India’s energy market has been constrained by domestic factors, including the failure to
implement energy sector reform. India’s electricity industry is in disarray, and is plagued by massive (1)
subsidies to the agricultural sector, which consumes almost one third of current Indian power output. Moreover,
(2) power theft poses a significant problem—one quarter of power produced “simply disappears”. India also
suffers from (3) insufficient generating capacity. India would need to build at least one new power plant per
month—each with a 1,000 megawatt annual capacity—for the next, at least, 10 years to keep pace with its
The Essay on South Carolina Energy and Gas Company
This company is involved in the supply of gas for homes, offices, industries and other institutions. The product chosen is home warming gas. This gas involves various activities like filling those with returnable containers, supervision (inspection) and transportation. The cost drivers to apportioned to this activities identified are canteen expenses, repairs & maintenance and rent & ...
growing energy needs. International investment in India’s power sector was threatened by a major contract
dispute between the Indian government and the international energy giant, Enron, which had invested $2 billion
in Indian power plants.
Second, geopolitical issues have further been constraining and delaying Caspian-Indian pipeline projects.
Afghanistan has been delayed (though not ruled out) as a gas pipeline transit country given its chronic
instability and ongoing civil war, which has resulted in the almost complete destruction of the country’s
infrastructure. Pipeline traversing Pakistan (IPI) is ‘near-to-mature’ option for India given its nuclear arms race
with Pakistan, the long-term conflict over the disputed region of Kashmir, and the other border conflicts and
water disputes remain subdued in the ongoing peace process aimed at economic prosperity of the region.
India had been showing interest in the trans-Afghan pipeline (TAP) project in the recent past (despite crumpled
condition of Afghanistan), which would ship natural gas in Turkmenistan via Afghanistan to markets in
Pakistan and India. The project has long been hampered by questions concerning pipeline security and the
extent of Turkmenistan’s reserves. According to Turkmen media sources, the country’s president, Saparmurat
Niyazov, had discussed TAP’s prospects with visiting US Gen. John Abizaid, who visited Ashgabat in late
August, 2005.
During his 2005 visit to Afghanistan, Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh had said that both pipeline
projects (IPI and TAP) needed to be realized in order for New Delhi to achieve the energy security that it seeks.
“It is not a question of preferring one (pipeline) over the other”, Singh said during a joint news conference with
The Term Paper on India And Pakistan Nuclear States War
In May 1998 India's new coalition government led by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) conducted five nuclear tests. This was shortly responded by Pakistan with similar action, and the world realized that it received at once two new overt nuclear states. The nuclear tests were met with great popular celebration in the two countries and a big concern worldwide. Why nuclear tests in 1998 took place? ...
Afghan President Hamid Karzai. “We need both pipelines… India’s needs for commercial energy are
increasing at an explosive rate.”
The visit of Indian Foreign Minister to Iran (February 6-7) was seen by analysts as a single-minded purpose —
to set a political climate in India’s bilateral relations with Iran that will be conducive to the advancement of
energy cooperation between the two countries. The timing of the visit, when the US was stealthily finessing a
pretext for launching a military attack on Iran and prevailing on close allies and friends to stay clear of bilateral
exchanges with Tehran, was very important. India, seemingly, is going indifferent to even issue of its nuclear
ties with the US while pursuing the IPI pipeline. Much is at stake here. Did Washington make an exception for
India, or was India, after all, never really belonging to the gallery of Washington’s close or ‘natural’ allies? At
any rate, New Delhi acted in its best interests when Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee paid a two-day
visit to Teheran and made it unequivocally clear in his media comments that India opposed any use of force
against Iran.
Apart from underlining that expansion of relations with Iran is important for India, Mukherjee described Iran as
a factor for stability in the region. That is to say, India disregards Washington’s propaganda that Iran is a
terrorist state that is threatening regimes in neighbouring countries. Equally, Mukherjee called for the Iran
nuclear file to be sent back to the International Atomic Energy Agency as the competent forum to handle the issue. In sum, Mukherjee made out with great poise and resoluteness that New Delhi had its own independent
foreign policy toward Iran.
Iran:
After the United States shifted its strategic focus towards isolating the Iran politically and mutilating its
Economy, the political and economic pursuits for Iran became more relevant. Iran exports only 2.34 million
The Research paper on India Pakistan Cold War
As two nations united by history but divided by destiny, India and Pakistan are almost like two estranged siblings. Their rivalries over five decades have prevented both countries from realizing their full economic and geographical potential. The two countries have fought three wars, two of them over the disputed region of Kashmir. The region is small, but nestled in the foothills of the ...
barrels of oil per day, about 300,000 barrels below its OPEC quota. With oil and gas exports accounting for half
the government’s budget and around 80-90 percent of total export earnings, this spells trouble for the regime,
which already faces the worst economic crisis since the 1970s. Iran likes to flaunt its “second largest gas
reserves in the world” status frequently, while offering reassurances that revenues from this project would be
utilized for the “general economic development” of the country, not for building nuclear weapons or sponsoring
terrorism.
Beyond the economic prospects, Iran is using the pipeline deal to gain political support on the international
arena from the US allies, India and Pakistan. As such, the three-year price revision clause is imperative for
Tehran to check bilateral ties in the face of hostile international diplomacy. Iranian officials argued that the
price revision clause was merely a ‘mechanism to study the market realities’, which would help to maintain the
“sanctity” of the contract. But the underlying meaning was that Iran wanted India and Pakistan to maintain the
“sanctity” of bilateral relations with Iran in world forums like the UN’s International Atomic Agency (IAEA),
as well as with the EU and the US.
Iran and India have become major energy and even strategic partners, in spite of India’s strong and growing ties
to Israel and the United States. India’s energy relations with Iran extend far beyond the IPI pipeline. In June,
2005, the two countries signed a 25-year deal, potentially worth up to $22 billion, under which India would
obtain 5 million tons a year of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Iran. In connection with this deal, Iran granted
development rights to India in two Iranian oil fields, potentially generating 60,000 barrels pee day in
production. In another deal, Iran awarded India development rights to a block in the North Pars gas field. Both
countries have also pledged to explore joint investment projects in petrochemicals.
Pakistan:
The Essay on Afghanistan Pakistan Iran
BACKGROUND: Afghanistan was subdued and occupied by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (U. S. S. R. i. e. Russia) in 1979. Subsequently in ten years, anti-communist forces provided and trained by the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan assisted in the removal of the Soviet power. As the fighting resumed, a fundamentalist Islamic movement referred to as the Taliban managed to seize most ...
Pakistan is better endowed in natural gas resources, with a proven capacity of 22 Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF),
compared to the very meager finds of India. And the prospects for more discoveries in traditional and offshore
fields are greater for Pakistan than for India. But still, Pakistan with an annual consumption of 0.7 TCF a year,
and with a demand increase of about 10 percent a year, will have to import natural gas by around 2010.
While for India the pipeline is almost a must, Pakistan can afford to kill the project and reap many diplomatic
and economic benefits without compromising on its energy security. The US advice for Pakistan will be to opt
for TAP and drop IPI. Washington may argue that TAP is more beneficial for Pakistan because it would not
have to rely on Iran given the latter’s reputation of unreliable business practices (for example, last winter
Turkey was not happy with the disruption of gas supplies from Iran).
The then opted $2 billion Turkmenistan-
Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) gas pipeline would carry gas from Daulatabad in Turkmenistan via Herat,
Afghanistan to Multan. For an additional $500 million TAP can be extended to Fazilka on the Pakistan-India
border and hence provide gas to India as well. At a later stage TAP could be expanded further to connect other
fields in Central Asia to Gwadar, turning the new port into one of the world’s most important energy hubs.
For Pakistan, nonetheless, IPI engulfs a marvelous opportunity to bury the hatchets with India, restore peace to
the beleaguered region and open up a new vista of economic prosperity. There can be, of course, no peace in the
South Asia till Pakistan and India are at draggers drawn and there would be, perhaps, no brighter chances of
mutual reconciliation between the two countries than implied in this ‘peace pipeline’.
