Hon. Joseph R. Biden
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, DC 20006
Herewith I, Arshad H. Abbasi, an energy and water consultant, researcher, and advisor to the private think tank – Center for Research and Security Studies (www.crss.pk), Pakistan – am approaching you for a critical challenge my country faces today.
Before getting into specifics about the topic, I would like to remind you of a statement you made when you visited my country in January 2011; “Pakistan and the United States have established a long-lasting partnership.”
However, the years after you assumed office in 2020, don’t show any tangible outcomes of that “long-lasting” partnership, particularly when Pakistan finds itself embroiled in multiple crises and is facing several daunting challenges. For this reason, CRSS would like to bring up one of those significant issues with you and request whether your country might assist Pakistan in any way, at least on this count i.e. a waiver for importing gas from Iran via a pipeline.
Let’s now examine why Pakistan requires this urgent support from the US.
Firstly, Pakistan is heavily reliant on natural gas for its energy needs. Its gas reserves are not sufficient to meet the demand. At the same time, these reserves are depleting at the rate of 5% annually. Furthermore, Pakistan also imports expensive LNG to meet the shortfall, one of the main reasons for the high inflation in the country.
Hence, Pakistan is in dire need of clean, renewable energy resources. The Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline (IPGP), which has been operating for nearly two decades, could be one of the sources. The Inter-Governmental Framework Declaration was signed on May 24, 2009, by the presidents of Pakistan and Iran, well in advance of the sanctions imposed on Iran.
Unfortunately, because of the US sanctions against Iran, the IPGP project remains in limbo.
Consequently, the majority of Pakistanis were shocked when Donald Lu, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central, told the House Foreign Affairs Committee in March 2024 that Pakistan may face U.S. sanctions if it imports gas from Iran. This statement was further reinforced by Matthew Miller, the spokesperson of the State Department, who cautioned Pakistan on the initiation of this project despite knowing that Pakistan would have to pay Iran $18 billion in penalties for years of project delays.
Mr.President, your strategic partner Pakistan is now caught between the devil and the deep blue sea; build the pipeline and risk sanctions, or don’t build it and end up paying potential penalties worth billions of dollars.
The USA’s strategic ally Pakistan is caught up in a worrisome situation wherein demand for gas is rising but supply is becoming ever more expensive.
We, therefore, would like to request you to help Pakistan get a waiver for importing gas from Iran. The 250 million people of Pakistan, a strategic partner, desperately need cheaper and cleaner energy wherever possible.
A waiver in favour of this could potentially turn millions into friends of the United States. Once granted, the waiver will also nudge global finance institutions to lend finances for the project.
I also recall your speech at the 2023 Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate where you underlined that “Today we have to do more than recognize the climate challenges we face. And we’re going to — we will preserve our planet in the future.”
I also remember your promising words from a speech that CNN carried live on the occasion of the COP-26 climate summit.
“On my very first day in office, I took action to return the United States to the Paris Agreement. Since then, our administration has been hard at work unlocking clean energy breakthroughs to drive down the cost of technologies that will require us to do — to achieve net-zero emissions.”
You made another commitment to the global community about the NET-ZERO commitment on October 14 Oct 2023.
Mr.President, connecting your strong statements on climate and the need for clean energy, I strongly believe that Assistant Secretary Donald Lu’s strong statements on Pakistan’s intended gas imports from Iran may not necessarily reflect your vision of clean energy and the dire needs of the people of your strategic partner Pakistan. The only alternative to natural gas that you’re probably considering is using clean hydroelectricity to meet Pakistan’s gas demand and make this country a net zero energy model in Asia.
In the 1960s, the US played a critical role in getting India and Pakistan to sign the Indus Water Treaty and also contributed majorly to the construction of two big hydel power dams – the Mangla Dam and the Tarbela Dam.
Pakistan’s projected annual gas import from Iran is nearly 310 billion cubic feet. The electricity produced from the aforementioned projects will be equivalent to the quantum of gas proposed to be imported from Iran. The carbon emissions from the USA’s real strategic partner are significantly reduced when electricity is used to meet natural gas demand for the same purpose.
In the worst case scenario – if the USA is committed not to granting a waiver for Pakistan then – an alternate plan to meet the gas demand of Pakistan can be filled through clean hydroelectricity not only repeating the history of America’s generosity to Pakistan but also setting a model of NET-ZERO in Asia.
I have listed the hydropower projects below that can help Pakistan meet its need for gas by hydroelectricity.
These hydroelectric power projects will generate the electricity needed for domestic and industrial use each year, covering the absence of gas imports from Iran. These hydroelectric power projects will generate the electricity needed for domestic and industrial use each year, making up for the absence of gas imports from Iran.
The mitigation package for global climate change suggested above is almost four times smaller than the $95 billion package passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on April 21, 2024, in Taiwan, Israel, and Ukraine.
The global threat posed by climate change surpasses the severity of regional conflicts in terms of its territorial scope.
Nearly 250 million Pakistanis look up to the United States of America for help in crucial sectors such as energy. They want an end to their suffering due to natural gas shortages. It is time to emulate the 1960s when America first stood up for Pakistan with an external helping hand.
Nothing could be a better gift to the people of Pakistan than a US waiver to the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline project or the development of the aforementioned hydropower projects to meet the demand for gas to translate your vision of ZET-ZERO into reality in Asia.
Regards and Best wishes,
Arshad Abbasi
On behalf of Team CRSS, Islamabad