Page 271 - Failure to Triumph - Journey of A Student

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 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 demographic set up the Constitution provides 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 Hezbulla. Israel has vacated Southern Lebanon in the year 2000 after
occupying it for 22 years as a security zone against these terrorist organizations. The Israelis have
now decided to again occupy Southern Lebanon up to 30 km inside Lebanon. It has the blessings of
Americans. Hezbulla 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 2nd to Russia as far as gas reserves
are concerned in the whole world. Iran is 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 six to seven per cent during the last 15

years. During 2004-05, India consumed approximately 130 million tonnes of oil, 15 million tonnes of
which was imported. India needs 150 million cubic meters of gas daily, while the gas supply in the
country stands at only 50% of the requirement. It is expected that gas requirement of India will
quadruple in the next ten years. The decreasing oil reserves have forced India to think about the
alternatives to speedily fill up the gaps in demand and supply. Therefore, India’s need for gas cannot
be ignored.

Why Iran?

Importing gas from Qatar is 15% costlier than to import from Iran. The condition is much worse in the
case of Turkmenistan as it will be 20% more expensive. The Iranian gas is more accessible to India
and Pakistan from the security point of view. Though the gas from Qatar is more dependable, but its
capacity and sale are full till 2017. For these reasons, Iran’s choice is the best.

Economics

Technically and economically, implementation of 2700 kms long pipeline which will be laid down at

a depth of 1.5 meter below the ground at a cost of more than US$ 4 billion can bring more than one
hundred million cubic meters of gas from Iran to India and Pakistan. The route proposed to be
followed is Ports of Asaluyeh in Iran-Gwadar-Karachi-Indo-Pak border.