After the Chinese $ 2 billion assistance for the Gwadar Nawabshah gas pipeline project and a similar amount investment by the Russia in the North-South (Karachi-Lahore) gas pipeline project, the official circles are abuzz with the proposal to formally ask the United States to match the Sino-Russian friendship gesture with at least $ 2 billion investment for the Diamir Bhasha Dam.
Official sources said the proposal was being discussed in the professional and bureaucratic circles relating to finance and energy sectors. “It is for the first time since the creation of Pakistan that the country has cordial relations with all major super powers. Time has come for Pakistan to ask US to reciprocate the Sino-Russian investment in our energy security.”
The government should ask the US government to fulfill its assurance of releasing financing for the Diamir Bhasha Dam, the source said, mentioning that the US administration had assured the PPP government in 2011 that it would provide $ 200 million financing for the Diamir Bhasha Dam. The gesture of US government supporting the project would have helped Pakistan raise financing from the international financial institutions.
However, the assurance did not materialise and Pakistan is still struggling to get financing for the estimated $ 13 billion project. The project consists of a reservoir having 6.4 million acre feet of water storage capacity and 4,500 MW power generation potential. The project on completion will bring massive improvement in the country’s irrigation and agriculture sectors as well as power generation.
The project is on the hold since 2006 after announcement by General Musharraf, the source said, adding that it was time the government should firmly ask the US administration to provide $ 2 billion financing for the Diamir Bhasha Dam. Such support from US will help other IFIs to follow suit. It will be symbol of US-Pak friendship, they said.
The source said that it was unique that China was investing to link Pakistan for getting gas supplies from Iran, while Russians were coming to invest in a vital link which would help supply imported LNG from Karachi to the heartlands of Punjab. This would bring in a major change in the energy security of the country, he said.
“The US has helped Pakistan in assessing the shale oil and gas reserves but no major US oil and gas exploration giant operates in the country. The US has provided the vital technical and financial support in the energy loss mapping and rehabilitation but the true friendship gesture will come when the US supports development of a mega reservoir for which it has already assured,” the source added.