Page 386 - SSB Interview: The Complete Guide, Second Edition
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USA, the European Union and many more countries deciding to stop the aid
being given to Palestine. This is due to the fact that the Hamas constitution
states that the primary aim of Hamas is the “destruction of Israel”. In spite of
repeated requests from many countries, Hamas has not agreed to amend its
constitution till Israel vacates its territories occupied in the 1967 war.
Lebanon has a mixed population of Muslims and Christians, approximately
50:50. The Muslims are further divided into Shias and Sunnis. Lebanon was
in civil war due to this division of the population. Syria moved in 1976 as
there was complete chaos in the country. It has the backing of the world
community. But Syria started dictating terms which were not liked by the
locals and the Americans. Syria was made to leave Lebanon in 2005 when an
ex-PM was killed and the needle of suspicion was pointing towards Syria.
Due to the demographic set-up, the Constitution provides for the President as
a Christian, Sunni as the Speaker and Shia as the Prime Minister. It does not
have a strong army. Southern Lebanon has been left to Hezbollah. Israel
vacated Southern Lebanon in the year 2000 after occupying it for 22 years as
a security zone against these terrorist organisations. The Israelis have now
decided to occupy Southern Lebanon again up to 30km inside Lebanon. It has
the blessings of the Americans. Hezbollah is being supported by Iran and
Syria.
IRAN-PAKISTAN-INDIA GAS PIPELINE
Iran has 18% of the proven gas reserves of the world. Iran stands second to
Russia as far as gas reserves are concerned in the whole world. Iran has been
exporting its gas in the form of LNG or transportation through pipelines to
different countries of the world since 1990.
India’s Demand
The energy requirement of India and Pakistan has increased 6–7% during the
last 15 years. During 2004–05, India consumed approximately 130 million
tonnes of oil, 15 million tonnes of which were imported. India needs 150
