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US to Help Pakistan Meet Growing Energy Needs: Visiting Secretary

Posted on: Monday, 13 March 2006, 09:00 CST

Text of report by Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency

Islamabad, 13 March: Samuel Wright Bodman, US energy secretary, Monday [13 March] said that United States would help Pakistan to meet its growing energy needs, which was eminent due to rapid economic growth.

"My visit is an effort to further the strategic partnership," he said talking to a group of journalists at US ambassador's residence and added, "President Bush instructed me to look ways how US government could be helpful in realizing Pakistan's energy objectives."

Mr Bodman, in his opening statement, said the purpose of my visit is to "listen" and "see" and understand what are the needs and opportunities and how to attract investment to built energy infrastructure in Pakistan to keep pace with economic growth.

Terming the US president's recent visit to Pakistan as historic, the energy secretary said, "President Bush's visit was very important. It will usher and has the potential to usher in new era of our strategic relationship."

"Pakistan and US have very important strategic relationship and my visit to Pakistan within seven days of President Bush's visit is evident of the fact," he said

He said, during his talks with Pakistani officials, they deliberated at length on the energy potential of Pakistan. "We also discussed in detail Pakistan being gateway to South Asia and its trade and energy links with Central Asia."

US energy secretary said that he held wideranging effective dialogue on energy. We have outlined the potential sources of energy that include, coal, gas and wind energy. To a question, he said, my talks did not include civil nuclear cooperation.

Talking about Pak[istani]-US cooperation in private sector, Mr Bodman said US would try to create environment where private sectors of both the countries would be able to work together in energy sector.

On gas pipelines from Qatar, Iran and Turkmenistan to Pakistan, he said we discussed all of these pipelines. However, he expressed reservations about Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline, saying "US has significant problem with Iran as she is trying to acquire nuclear weapons and she should be stopped."

He said that US would not encourage and could not support Iran gas pipeline project. Other pipeline projects are very good and we are ready to help. To a question, the US energy secretary said lots of things already going on as far as Pakistan and US energy cooperation is concerned. We want Pakistan's political and technical leadership to find out what are their requirements and we are ready to make available necessary support.

He said that he had invited a delegation of Pakistani government leaders to visit US energy department to see how we are doing. "We are also very actively supporting research in physical sciences (physics, chemistry) in universities and private sector".

The US secretary said that he had also invited scientists from Pakistan to see their working that might lead to build linkages for comprehensive scientific cooperation in energy sector.

Mr Bodman also expressed sympathy with people of Pakistan on the loss of lives and devastation caused by 8 October 2005 earthquake.

Source: BBC Monitoring South Asia

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