Indus dam project has Chinese footprint

The Diamer-Bhasha dam project is in Gilgit-Baltistan, which is ethnically closer to Kargil district of Ladakh. Its political context is constricting as China and Pakistan are connected through the Karakoram highway that traverses through the region. Its control lies with the federal government.

Pakistan has decided to go ahead with the 450 MW Diamer-Bhasha dam in the Gilgit-Baltistan area on the Indus river. Diamer-Bhasha dam is being jointly constructed by a Chinese state-run firm and a commercial entity of Pakistan’s military. A slew of infrastructural projects being pursued by China and Pakistan in the region, including the dam, are taking place in the context of reinforcement of the federal government’s impulse to continue the old structures of control and micro-management.[Readmore]