Pakistan Wants US to Build and Operate a Port Terminal in Pasni
NEW DELHI, Oct 4: Advisers to Pakistani army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir have approached US officials with an offer to build and run a port on the Arabian Sea, the US media reported on Friday citing a plan seen by them.
The plan envisages American investors building and operating a terminal to access Pakistan’s critical minerals in the town of Pasni, a port town in Gwadar District in the province of Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.
The move comes after Munir, along with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, held a meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House in September. In that meeting, Sharif sought investment from US companies in the agriculture, technology, mining and energy sectors for investment.
According to the report, the offer was floated with some US officials, and was shared with Munir ahead of a meeting with Trump in the White House late last month. The blueprint excludes the use of the port for US military bases, and instead aims to attract development finance for a rail network linking the port to mineral-rich western provinces.
The US State Department, White House, and Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Manas Dasgupta)
