A.Rafay
ELITE MEMBER
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2012
- Messages
- 11,400
- Reaction score
- 10
- Country
- Location
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has asked India to stop opposing the construction of Diamer-Bhasha Dam at various international financial institutions (IFIs), as New Delhis opposition to the vital dam was casting a negative impact on the ongoing Indo-Pak peace process, besides causing huge loss to the countrys exchequer.
India is against the construction of Diamer-Bhasha dam on grounds that it is located in the disputed territory of Gilgit-Baltistan and hence it has been opposing Islamabads endeavors to seek the required financial assistance for the important project from multilateral creditors.
Through diplomatic channels, Pakistan is trying to impress upon India to drop its opposition to the mega water project as it is vital for the struggling economy of the country and also that New Delhis decision to oppose the dam is also not based on principles, as the people of this areas had themselves decided their accession to Islamabad, said a diplomatic source, seeking anonymity.
He said India had also been told that its opposition to the dam was impacting the ongoing peace process between the nuclear neighbors and hence it was required to review its decision.
Owing to the reluctance of IFIs like Asian Development and World Bank to extend funds for the Diamer-Basha Dam, a huge loss of $2.5b in the cost of the construction has already been caused to Pakistans exchequer.
The cost of Diamer-Bhasha Dam was estimated at around $11 billion in 2009, which however, has now reached at around $13 billion with an increase of $2.5billion due to the delay in the financing of the project.
A Pakistani official, who also sought anonymity, said the dam had a storage capacity of about eight million acre feet (MAF) and the expected electricity generation was 4,500MWs.
He said the project was supposed to be completed by 2017 but due to some financial problems, the dam construction was expected to be delayed by three to four years.
The ADB has reportedly committed $4.5 billion to $5 billion for construction of the project. The bank had also pledged that it would act as the governments investment banker in raising the money from international capital markets to meet funding requirements.
Similarly, the World Bank too is reluctant to provide funds for this dam on grounds that India is opposing the project.
The official said the good thing so far was that United States had assured Pakistan to extend around $500 million in assistance for the mega project from the $7.5 billion Kerry Lugar assistance package for Islamabad.
Pakistan is also seeking Chinese assistance for the construction of dam. The official said Pakistan would not seek an NOC from India for Diamer-Bhasha Dam but it would continue to nudge New Delhi against the blocking of financial assistance to the project at the IFIs.
