A few thoughts on the Pakistan-Iran Gas Pipline.
During the previous years, there was talk of Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline. Several articles appeared in the national press regarding the impracticality and unfeasiblity of this project. I do not agree with such opinions and would try to explain the need for such a pipeline.
First of all, I was amazed to know that this gigantic project is only meant to transport natural gas to Pakistan from Iran. What about liquid petroleum products like diesel, petrol and kerosene? Tanks, aeroplanes, helicopters, trucks, vehicles, ships, submarines etc need diesel, petrol and kerosene. They do not run on gas.
Fuel is part of the military logistics and it directly affects the war waging or defence capability of a country. Its importance can be judged from many historical examples. Before the Normady Landings during Second World War (1939-1945), Allies had established oil pipelines across the English Channel to transport petroleum from UK to main Europe (France). This gigantic work was called Operation Pluto (Piplelines Under the Ocean).
In case of naval blockade of Pakistan, how the fuel is going to be managed for military machinery or for civilian usage? Naval blockade is something that has already happened to Pakistan in 1971 war. India carried out a naval blockade of East Pakistan in 1971 and cargo ships could not reach it. Therefore oil from the Middle East would not reach Pakistan in case of naval blockade and a land route is therefore mandatory. Oil seems to be one of the rare items that is NOT transported by air.
In case of naval blockade of Pakistan, how the fuel is going to be managed for military machinery or for civilian usage? Naval blockade is something that has already happened to Pakistan in 1971 war. India carried out a naval blockade of East Pakistan in 1971 and cargo ships could not reach it. Therefore oil from the Middle East would not reach Pakistan in case of naval blockade and a land route is therefore mandatory. Oil seems to be one of the rare items that is NOT transported by air.
The Karakoram Highway (KKH) linking Pakistan to China would be of limited usage especially in the winter. Even in the abscence of a complete naval blockade, it must be stated that Pakistan's Merchant Navy does not possess enough and adequate oil tankers to meet demand. Additionally, the danger of Indian Navy submarines sinking these tankers would be always present.
Government of Pakistan has surely established some petroleum storage capacity based on certain calculations like the duration of war, number of fronts open, civilian usage etc but it is obvious that it can quickly become insufficient.
Even in the peacetime, an oil pipeline shall mean huge savings to Pakistani exchequer because Iranian oil is cheap. The large-scale smuggling of oil at Iran-Pakistan border indicates the demand for cheap petroleum products. These oil smugglers may even have constructed cross-border underground pipelines for large scale oil transportation. These, if found, should be taken into governement custody.
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