This article is written as an Inductive Proof of the following Thesis statement:

"A better future is possible for Pakistan, Iran and India if better ideas are implemented to make the Oil Pipeline more relevant to all parties concerned."

GIVEN / INITIAL CONDITIONS:
- India is considering again the possibility of using Pakistani soil for the much needed Iran-India Oil-pipeline.
- Pakistan will loose only a few hundred million Dollars annually if subversive elements somehow sabotage the pipeline.
- Pakistan's assurances are insignificant unless every inch of this pipeline is guarded as a national asset, ideally by the Pakistani Military.

REQUIREMENT / DESIRED CONDITION:
- A security guarantee which enables the Government of India to know unquestionably that the Government of Pakistan, and more importantly, the Pakistan Military Establishment, will do all in its power to protect this strategic regional asset.

POSSIBLE SCENARIO FOR ACHIEVING REQUIREMENT:
India can couple something of equal or greater value on this pipeline. Something India is blessed with in abundance, and which is not as freely available in either Pakistan or Iran. I speak here of a technologist's dream. I speak of a multiple, redundant, super-high bandwidth fibre-optic backbone coupled to the skeletal structure of this pipeline.
The internet backbone which comes over this thick-fibre information-pipe is freely available to the citizenery of Pakistan and Iran. But that's not all of it. Since Pakistan-based terrorists could damage a part at the end of the border, after Pakistan has gotten its fill, this proposal goes one step further.

The INFORMATION PIPE travelling on this link does not open up in Pakistan on the way in. It goes all the way to Iran, maybe to a major nexus point from where it can be distributed. And from this point, it is routed back on a link of the same capacity and intensity.
Speed of light routing makes the additional distance a non-issue. The already-utilized bandwidth also does not affect the bandwidth available on the other end because we are speaking of a heavy-duty backbone link based on the most effective networking technology. If India is happy to pay Pakistan $400 Million per year as royalty for this pipeline to traverse Pakistani soil, then surely the additional cost of adding a connection to the abundant internet backbones available throughout India pales in comparison.

The Information-Pipe returns to Pakistan to be distributed freely to the citizenery of Pakistan, providing two-way redundancy for the web connections of all three countries in case fiascos like Pakistan is only too aware of happen again. A secure backup can never hurt, and even if we don't get enough bandwidth to be comparable to the kind of high-speed access that libraries and businesses in America and Europe are accustomed to, we will at least have redundancy to protect us from being plunged back into the "dark ages" in case another connection problem turns up.

Some work is required, yes, but it gives Pakistan something to protect. And in the potentially likely case of India being blessed with much more bandwidth than currently exists, the Pakistan-based information-economy can receive a _tremendous_ boost in its underlying infrastructire, not to mention Iran's. As a technologist, I would consider this a quid-pro-quo arrangement; where the value of what's coming back on the pipeline is at least as high as what's passing through the other way. It could eventually be akin to opening up the floodgates of an information river flowing abundantly in the land next door.

If such an increase in bandwidth comes about, this pipeline would gain instant importance in Pakistan as a vulnerable national asset and give the Pakistani military establishment an important reason to deploy resources for the protection of this, quite-possibly, primary and preferred information exchange route with the world. Whatever the eventual outcome, its importance would undoutedly be enough for Pakistan to address the pipeline's security as a strategic objective.

POTENTIAL OUTCOME / EPILOGUE:
- This pipeline becomes a priceless national asset for Pakistan as it brings in something eventually more valuable than Oil to our technologically nascent land.
- India and Pakistan establish a joint-command task-force in order to proactively safeguard this regional asset.
- Iran, India and Pakistan come closer to a real economic alliance as the interdependence between these massive economies increases with the increase in mutual trust.
- PeakOil(.com) becomes a regional concern.
- The Indian information market becomes a proving-ground for the budding information economies of Iran and Pakistan

FINAL OBJECTIVE:
Lasting peace, insha-Allah, founded on mutual dependence and, be-izn Allah, a Golden Age for the land of our mothers!

QED.



The author, a writer, dreamer, thinker and believer in the utility of economic involvement between Pakistan and India, feels that the benefits of taking this idea seriously far outweigh the risks of ignoring it. Your thoughts and comments are sought. You can always contact author via the URL below.

Thank you and Salaam.

~ Abbas ~
'A lover of the land of his origins.' buzzaz.naseeb.com