Pakistan and Iran share border on the Balochistan side, and have close ties historically and politically. Tehran has come forward to sell natural gas and is willing to lay the pipeline upto the major consumption centres in Pakistan. Already, work is more or less complete on the iron side of the pipeline. Iran hopes to extend the pipeline to energy hungry China and even to India, if Delhi gives up its reluctance which is rooted in security concerns.

In recent months there was much talk about barter trade – gas from Iran for foodgrains and other essentials from Pakistan. This trade window appeared attractive as Pakistan came under American pressure to abandon the I-P line. China, once evinced interest to finance the pipeline but it has since backed out.

So much so the trade data shows that there is something wrong with Pakistan on its Iran trade front. It is patently absurd to attribute the nuclear sanctions against Iran as the culprit. Because mutuality of interest binds the two nations and the N-sanctions have not stood in the way of Pakistan buying electricity from Iran.

Analysts therefore argue that Islamabad must look inwards for the reasons in the fall of trade with Tehran. More over, Pakistan’s approach towards regional trade has never been encouraging with all its attention focused on EU and American markets. Yes, volumes are low from these two markets when compared to trade with India, China and Afghanistan.

India competes with Pakistan as major producers of cotton and textile-based products. But it has a large domestic market which is slightly lower than China’s and hence should hold special attraction for Pakistan. But it is not officially and industry-wise. The reason is both political and economic. While in the army and religious groups dominated politics of Pakistan, India is enemy number one and therefore unfit to be patronized with trade, the industry is apprehensive of being pushed out on quality considerations. In addition, there is little to offer to export and more to import from India. According to Dawn, the Karachi daily, some manufacturers and traders having monopoly in Pakistan also fear that trade with India would either erode their business or reduce their profitability.

There are no such hiccups for trade with Iran. In fact the Pakistani business community supports increased trade with Iran, which they don’t see as a competitor. Iranian market also has the potential to absorb more Pakistani imports that can range from textile-based products and commodities like rice, wheat and sugar. Yet the Iran-Pak trade scene is anything but encouraging.