Behind the scenes, however, officials admit that the South Asian nations are simply ignoring American directives. Dr. Noor Jehan Panezai, MP, who represents the region in Western Pakistan where the pipeline will run, welcomes the plan as an employment package for her constituents. “Indians and Pakistanis,” she says, “will choose our own projects. We have decided that the United States has no business in our problems.”
Maha Atal(Forbes)
!st July, 2008
India, Pakistan and Iran will sign a deal this month to build a natural gas pipeline to help feed the subcontinent’s desperate need for energy, a major blow to American sanctions against Tehran and a defeat for U.S. influence in South Asia.