Tehran has sent a nine-member delegation led by National Iranian Gas Export Co. Managing Director Hossein Nawab to Islamabad for talks on the struggling “peace pipeline” project. .. The pipeline, which includes India, has hit numerous snags over the price of gas and transit fees, as well as U.S. concerns over dealings between allies and Iran.
 Afghan bridge exposes huge divide M K Bhadrakumar, asiatimes.com. History; Great game accelerating; America’s ‘Great Central Asia’ strategy; US-China equations. Last week, the US Army Corps of Engineers plugged the gap in Alexander’s logistics by building a bridge across the Pyanj River to connect Tajikistan and Afghanistan. … Anyone even remotely interested in the Great Game took note. … 1) the Great Game in Central Asia not only shows no signs of abating, but it is actually accelerating. 2) Washington is pressing ahead with its “Great Central Asia” strategy, no matter the fluidity of the Afghan (and Pakistani) security situation. 3) Washington has knowingly facilitated an efficient access route for China that leads to the markets in South Asia and the Persian Gulf. The thrust of the United States’ so-called “Great Central Asia” strategy is to pull Tajikistan toward Afghanistan by the scruff of its neck, as it were, in an effort to draw the Central Asian region itself incrementally toward the South Asian countries – with Afghanistan acting as a hub, or a revolving door. With the consolidation of US strategic influence in the recent years in the South Asian region, Washington estimates that its skillful midwifery in Central Asia has a fair chance of success. … Of late, the Great Game, which has been keenly pursued in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, has spilled over into Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. The transfer of power to a new leadership in Turkmenistan after the death of Saparmurat Niazov last December opened a window of opportunity for the US to contest the lead role established by Russia and China in accessing the country’s vast resources of natural gas. The US has brought in financial institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to explore the possibility of funding trans-regional projects aimed at strengthening the infrastructure and communication links among the countries of the Central/South Asian region. … But in the US understanding, a strategic alliance between Russia and China in Central Asia within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a long way from materializing. … The bridge underscores that China doesn’t necessarily have to depend on the SCO for developing its transportation routes to the South Asia/Persian Gulf region. |
