Source: ET:
As a nation which too often faces threats to its sovereignty, mainly because of its peculiar geostrategic, political and economic situation, decisions made independently in Islamabad, which put the country’s own interests first, are always welcome. One of these decisions on the key Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline was announced on August 2 by Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry, who said in his briefing that Pakistan had handed over a ‘non-paper’ to the US Secretary of State John Kerry during his recent visit, informing him of Pakistan’s plans to move ahead with the pipeline, which is envisaged to be completed by 2014, and will bring in a much-needed flow of natural gas to an energy-starved nation, where many commercial and industrial enterprises face collapse — or indeed have already collapsed — due to the lack of fuel available to them.