ISLAMABAD – State minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said Pakistan will continue to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Qatar under a 15-year agreement, despite the growing tensions between the Gulf nation and its Arab neighbours.
Qatar and Pakistan last year signed a $1 billion agreement, under which Qatar’s Liquefied Gas Company Limited will sell LNG from 2016 to year 2031 to state-run Pakistan State Oil.
Abbasi, who belongs to ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, said since no sanctions have been imposed on Qatar by the United Nations, Pakistan and Qatar were bound to abide by the agreement.
The minister’s statement comes a day after a six-member Qatari delegation reached Islamabad. The delegation met high-level officials at the Prime Minister House where they discussed the Gulf crisis.
Earlier, the officials had landed in Lahore on Wednesday, where they met Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif. They conveyed him the Qatar Emir’s message that demanded Pakistan play its role regarding the diplomatic crisis in Gulf – the issue of bans imposed by fellow countries, including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.
The delegation is headed by the Qatar Emir’s secretary, Abdul Hadi Mana Al Hajri.
On June 5, the Arab world’s biggest powers cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of support for Islamist militants and Iran, and reopening a festering wound two weeks after US President Donald Trump’s demand for Muslim states to fight terrorism.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain severed diplomatic relations with Qatar in a coordinated move. Yemen, Libya’s eastern-based government and the Maldives joined later. Transport links shut down, triggering supply shortages.
Qatar, a small peninsular nation of 2.5 million people that has a large US military base, denounced the action as predicated on lies about it supporting militants. It has often been accused of being a funding source for Islamists, as has Saudi Arabia.
