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March 23rd, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda On March 14, Pakistan’s finance ministry spokesman, Naveed Iqbal, said Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) a state-owned Chinese bank, which had agreed to finance the Pakistani section of Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline, is no longer interested in the project.
According to Pakistani sources, the decision to negotiate a deal with Russia came in a recent meeting of the sub-committee formed by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the government, The Express Tribune reported.
During Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar’s four-day visit to Moscow in February, Russia had announced that it would fully finance the pipeline project if its energy giant Gazprom was awarded the contract without bidding.
“A delegation will visit Russia soon to negotiate a deal with Gazprom,” the paper quoted Pakistan’s Petroleum Secretary Ijaz Chaudhry as saying.
“No decision, however, has been taken yet to award the contract to Russia, but Pakistan will discuss this option,” he added.
Chaudhry also dispelled the perception that ICBC has totally distanced itself from the project, saying, “We have written a letter to ICBC, asking it to clear its position as financial adviser to the project.”
Energy-hungry Pakistan is looking to increase its fuel imports from various sources, including Iran, to reduce power shortages that have crippled the country’s industry and shaved percentage points off its GDP growth.
Washington has frequently indicated its resentment of Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project. An article published by the International Herald Tribune on January 25, said Washington is trying to lure Islamabad away from the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project by offering cheaper gas to the country.
The multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline aims to export a daily amount of 21.5 million cubic meters (or 7.8 billion cubic meters per year) of the Iranian natural gas to Pakistan.
The maximum daily gas transfer capacity of the 56-inch pipeline which runs over 900 km of Iran’s soil from Asalouyeh in Bushehr Province to the city of Iranshahr in Sistan and Baluchestan Province has been estimated at 110 million cubic meters.
SS/AZ
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