SHORTAGE of energy has been a matter of concern in the past decade: not for the governments but for the people. There came a time when night became 22 hours long in some areas of Pakistan. It was easier to have a look at your girlfriend than having sight of a lit tubelight or a running fan. A nuclear power with energy shortage – this was the image Pakistan was ‘enjoying.’ Perhaps, no serious measures were taken to meet the energy requirements of the country that once aspired to become Asian tiger but was going on the road to become a feeble cat. To make the situation worse, terrorism was sucking the blood from the veins of our economy and social fabric. Then came a change: the change, which was promised by everyone but remained in commercials only in the times of earlier governments. PML-N got the reins of the country. Nawaz Sharif, from the very outset, set the target of overcoming the load shedding issue during his tenure. It has been two and a half years and the energy situation has drastically changed. Many power projects were launched in all the provinces of Pakistan in this span. The power outage, which was considered to be normal at 12 hours a day in cities, reduced to just 6-8 hours. There is an English saying that where there is a will, there is a way. It means that if you are really determined enough, you can find a way to achieve what you want. The saying goes well with the determination of federal government to overcome the load-shedding problem. On December 13, the PM attended the groundbreaking ceremony of Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project. This is not an ordinary event. It will serve many purposes to our state. First, this $10 billion project will provide 1.3 billion cubic feet of gas per day to Pakistan. It will definitely help our country meet the energy requirements. Consequently, load shedding will be reduced further. TAPI project will also help in completion of CPEC by providing adequate energy to the project. The TAPI gas pipeline project, apart from serving the energy needs, will strengthen the international relations of Pakistan. When Afghanistan and India will be having mutual stakes, they would certainly not aspire strained relations with Pakistan. Economic activity will be generated across the region, which will provide employment opportunities. Thus lifestyle of thousands of families will change. TAPI is just a start. In future, these countries can make an economic alliance benefiting each other. The pipeline will be completed and made operational by 2019. It will provide the shortest route for access to seaports through Central Asian Republics and other states in the region. TAPI will bring peace and stability in the region. Trade will also be promoted. Beside it, the project will present a positive image of the country in the world. For some time, Pakistan has been in international news because of negative events here i.e. terrorism. But for the past few months, international media has started portraying our country as a safe haven for investment (instead of terrorists). Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Independent and many other credible papers have praised policies of the current Pakistani government. Pakistan’s involvement in this gas project will provide a good word to them for our country. The initiative of the leaders of all the four countries is praiseworthy. But if it does not end well, nothing will be well. To ensure that the work on this pipeline is completed in time and within the available budget, the leaders will have to be very vigilant. Bureaucracy, technical staff and everyone who is responsible for the completion of TAPI should not be allowed to take any leverage out of it. Honest and dedicated men have to be deployed to accomplish the task. TAPI project is yet another feather in the government’s cap; but there is a long way to go to make Pakistan a regional power. Overcoming load shedding by 2018 will be an important step by the federal government. The sincerity with which the PM and his team is working on this issue is beyond doubt. But the country will need more and more efforts from other parties as well to translate the dream of a developed Pakistan into reality. The road is straight; and no one can be misled unless one wishes to be.