India opposes China-backed hydro-power project in Pak

  New Delhi said the site of the proposed mega-project was in an area, which was an integral part of India despite being under illegal occupation of Pakistan.

New Delhi also lodged a protest against Islamabad’s ‘Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self Governance Order 2009’, which is aimed at giving Pakistan’s Northern Areas “full internal autonomy” and changing the region's name to Gilgit-Baltistan. India considers the so-called Northern Areas as its own territory in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Sources said that Pakistan’s Deputy High Commissioner was called in at the Ministry of External Affairs in South Block, where he was issued a note verbale conveying New Delhi’s protest against the proposed Bunji hydro-electric project as well as the Gilgit-Baltistan order. Indian High Commission in Islamabad too lodged protests with the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During President Asif Ali Zardari’s visit to Beijing recently, Pakistan Government’s Ministry of Power and China Three Gorges Project Corporation had on August 23 last signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for construction of the 7000 MW Bunji Hydro-Electric project on the river Indus in PoK. Zardari had during his visit sought Beijing’s help in hydro-power sector to tackle the growing energy crisis in Pakistan.