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Beijing did not ask for ownership rights to Diamer-Bhasha dam, an unnamed official with China’s top planning agency was quoted on state media
Viola ZhouUPDATED : Friday, 8 Dec 2017, 11:15AM
7
An official with China’s top planning agency said it does not accept Pakistan’s claim that it decided to cancel a US$14 billion infrastructure deal with China because Beijing was making demands that were impossible to meet, state media reported.
The Chinese government did not ask for ownership or operation rights to the Diamer-Bhasha dam or seek to take another Pakistan dam in exchange for striking an agreement with Islamabad, the state-run Xinhua news agency on Thursday quoted an unnamed official with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) as saying.
Diamer Bhasha dam is in the preliminary stages of construction on the Indus river in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. Photo: Handout.
The conditions “did not exist”, the official was quoted. “The recent reports on Pakistani media contained factual mistakes”, “or they only reflected the stands of individual officials”.
Pakistani media had reported last month that the project was excluded from the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) framework because Islamabad was unable to meet China’s “strict conditions” for agreement.
Pakistan pulls plug on dam deal over China’s ‘too strict’ conditions in latest blow to Belt and Road plans
The Chinese conditions were “not doable and against our interests”, Pakistan’s Express Tribunequoted Water and Power Development Authority chairman Muzammil Hussain as saying on November 14.
CHINA AT A GLANCE
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Hussain said the conditions centred on project ownership, operation and maintenance costs and possibly giving China operational rights to another Pakistani dam, according to the report.
The official with the NDRC, an agency under the State Council with broad administrative and planning control over the Chinese economy, was quoted as saying the two governments are still in touch regarding cooperation on the Diamer-Bhasha dam, although the facility is not part of the CPEC plan.
China’s super link to Gwadar Port
The dam, on the Indus river in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, is in the preliminary stages of construction.
The official said Chinese companies had made large investments to generate profit from the Gwadar Port since taking over management rights. Gwadar Port, a deep-sea port on the Arabian Sea at Gwadar in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, is seen as vital to the US$57 billion CEPC plan and a crucial element of China’s massive trade and infrastructure undertaking, the “Belt and Road Initiative”.
A Pakistani Naval personnel stands guard during the opening in 2016 of a trade route linking Gwadar Port to the Chinese city of Kashgar. Photo: AFP
The CPEC, a flagship project under the Belt and Road Initiative, is considered vital to open up trade along land and sea corridors from Asia to Africa to Europe.
https://www.m.scmp.com/news/china/p...official-disputes-pakistans-claim-us14b?amp=1
7
An official with China’s top planning agency said it does not accept Pakistan’s claim that it decided to cancel a US$14 billion infrastructure deal with China because Beijing was making demands that were impossible to meet, state media reported.
The Chinese government did not ask for ownership or operation rights to the Diamer-Bhasha dam or seek to take another Pakistan dam in exchange for striking an agreement with Islamabad, the state-run Xinhua news agency on Thursday quoted an unnamed official with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) as saying.
Diamer Bhasha dam is in the preliminary stages of construction on the Indus river in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. Photo: Handout.
The conditions “did not exist”, the official was quoted. “The recent reports on Pakistani media contained factual mistakes”, “or they only reflected the stands of individual officials”.
Pakistani media had reported last month that the project was excluded from the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) framework because Islamabad was unable to meet China’s “strict conditions” for agreement.
Pakistan pulls plug on dam deal over China’s ‘too strict’ conditions in latest blow to Belt and Road plans
The Chinese conditions were “not doable and against our interests”, Pakistan’s Express Tribunequoted Water and Power Development Authority chairman Muzammil Hussain as saying on November 14.
CHINA AT A GLANCE
Get updates direct to your inbox
Sign up now
Hussain said the conditions centred on project ownership, operation and maintenance costs and possibly giving China operational rights to another Pakistani dam, according to the report.
The official with the NDRC, an agency under the State Council with broad administrative and planning control over the Chinese economy, was quoted as saying the two governments are still in touch regarding cooperation on the Diamer-Bhasha dam, although the facility is not part of the CPEC plan.
China’s super link to Gwadar Port
The dam, on the Indus river in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, is in the preliminary stages of construction.
The official said Chinese companies had made large investments to generate profit from the Gwadar Port since taking over management rights. Gwadar Port, a deep-sea port on the Arabian Sea at Gwadar in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, is seen as vital to the US$57 billion CEPC plan and a crucial element of China’s massive trade and infrastructure undertaking, the “Belt and Road Initiative”.
A Pakistani Naval personnel stands guard during the opening in 2016 of a trade route linking Gwadar Port to the Chinese city of Kashgar. Photo: AFP
The CPEC, a flagship project under the Belt and Road Initiative, is considered vital to open up trade along land and sea corridors from Asia to Africa to Europe.
https://www.m.scmp.com/news/china/p...official-disputes-pakistans-claim-us14b?amp=1
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