Pakistan has asked or begged India not to resist the building of Bhasha dam as it would not be conducive to confidence building measures between India and Pakistan. Our country is dependent on India to getting a NOC for the dam but what is the problem in building Kalabagh Dam located squarely in Pakistan territory other than unwillingness of Khyeber Pakhtunkhawa and Sindh. The PPP setup has been unable to obtain from these provinces their agreement for the simple reason of being located in Punjab. How can Pakistan hope against hope that India would give NOC for Bhasha Dam in Northern area which India assumes albeit wrongly as a disputed area. The unending opposition of KP and Sindli to build a dam on Indus in Punjab is the root cause of destruction of our economy and breeding of mass poverty due to water and power shortage, the twin menaces hitting our agriculture and industry badly are nobody’s concern and yet we expect India to be sympathetic to our woes.
Dr. Muhammad Yaqoob Bhatti,
Lahore, October 17.