There is a complete consensus in Pakistan about import of gas from Iran and Cameron’s remarks are nothing but an insult to the collective wisdom of the nation.

Chief spokesperson of the Pakistan’s Government – Information Minister Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan- has done well by instantly rejecting the statement of American ambassador Cameron Munter about Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project declaring that Pakistan would not take dictation over this vital project. Talking to media-persons in Lahore on Friday, American envoy maintained that the project was not in Pakistan’s interest suggesting that instead the country can get the required quantity of gas from Turkmenistan.

Though Munter tried to belittle the gravity of his remarks by claiming that it was not dictation but a friendly advice but this unsolicited advice was on an issue that is purely for the country to decide amounts to putting pressure on Pakistan. 

This was not the first time the U.S. envoy did it as in an interview with Radio Pakistan a few weeks back he had made similar remarks and unfortunately no one in authority in Pakistan took notice of this meddling into domestic affairs of the country. 

Earlier too, the United States applied immense pressure not only on Pakistan but also on France resulting into scraping of the Reprocessing Plant project that was in advance stages of implementation and on which this poor country had spent billions of rupees. 

Pakistan is facing crippling shortage of electricity and gas and it was perfectly in the country’s economic interests, rather economic survival, to go for all conceivable projects for import of energy from neighboring countries. 

It is regrettable that instead of helping Pakistan to overcome this crisis, the United States is creating road-blocks in the way of measures to address the challenge. One may ask what Locus Standi Munter has to tell Pakistan what is good or bad for it. Does he think that the entire planning and policy-making process and decision-making forums in Pakistan have gone bankrupt? Does no one in Pakistan is capable of determining what is in the country’s national interest and only Munter would decide about this? 

There is a complete consensus in Pakistan about import of gas from Iran and Cameron’s remarks are nothing but an insult to the collective wisdom of the nation. In some other country including our neighbor India, Munter would have instantly been declared persona non-grata for making statement of such an intrusive nature. It is no rocket science to conclude that it is because of this interventionist approach that fuels, what is being described, anti-Americanism.