US pressure tactics

According to media reports, US Assistant Secretary for International Affairs Department of Energy Jonathan Elkind has said that Pakistan is to determine and decide energy choices. The target of this remark was the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline project which was hit hard by the UN sanctions against Iran. Now, after lifting of the sanctions, we are eager to get the project going. It is time to decide our priorities.

The only reasonable choice before us is to strengthen our ties – economically and politically – with our neighbours and within the region instead of succumbing to American pressure. Our energy cooperation with Iran and Russia in the broader context of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and other regional engagements are much more important to us than the happiness of the US. However, with the opening of new doors we should not automatically shut all old ones.

Ali Ashraf Khan

Karachi