President Zardari to finalise a key agreement to help finance the multi-billion dollar Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project; Pakistan’s Finance Minister Hafeez Shaikh: US has committed to funding $200 million for preliminary work on the Diamer-Bhasha dam; I
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    • Reports noted that President Asif Ali Zardari will finalise a key agreement to help finance the multi-billion dollar Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project during an official visit to Tehran later this week. Iran has almost completed work on the controversial pipeline on its side of the border while Pakistan struggles to complete the pipeline – running into difficulty over reluctant investors who fear they could be hit by US sanctions. The pipeline has run into controversy due o US pressure on Pakistan not to cooperate with Iran. 1

    According to reports, Pakistan’s Finance Minister Hafeez Shaikh revealed on December 5 that the US has committed to funding $200 million for preliminary work on the Diamer-Bhasha dam, including for feasibility studies and surveys. This was in addition assistance in repairing four dams and an installment of the Coalition Support Fund (CSF). In addition to the Diamer-Bhasha pledge, Shaikh said Pakistan had also been promised an installment of five to six hundred million dollars as part of the CSF. 2

    In other developments, according to reports, Pakistan and India will operationalise the landmark visa accord, signed in September, next week – a move that should help deliver tangible results of a nascent peace process between the arch rivals that had stalled following the 2008 Mumbai attacks. After receiving an invitation from the Indian government, officials in Islamabad were optimistic that the ‘liberalised’ visa agreement would be operationalised during Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s visit to New Delhi this month. 3

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