Islamabad: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar has said that no pressure regarding the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline project would be tolerated.
The foreign minister made the remark in an exclusive interview with Geo television in Islamabad on Thursday.
She said Pakistan needs energy and will pursue Iran gas pipeline and other projects to meet requirements.
The foreign minister said that a decision to open the NATO supply route had not been made adding that this decision would be made by the Parliament.
She further said that Parliament could also dismiss the recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security.
The foreign minister said that the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status would be granted to India by December 2012.
India had granted the same status to Pakistan years ago and it was due for India but Pakistan had not taken the decision due to disputes including the Kashmir issue.
Pakistan’s decision late last year to grant the MFN status and the cabinet has also favoured the decision, but the government is still in the process to take all the stakeholders into confidence.
The foreign minister said that when trade relations normalise with India by December 2013, then automatically they would be granted MFN status like 180 other countries.
‘We steadfastly followed the course of action approved by the cabinet,’ Khar said.
When asked about cricket diplomacy and if the Foreign Office (FO) was playing any part in restoring cricketing ties between India and Pakistan, Khar replied that the FO was interfering in this matter as the PCB felt they were not getting the appropriate response.
