French nuclear ‘offer’: Dawn

According to Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, France has offered a civilian nuclear technology deal to Pakistan on the same lines as the US-India agreement signed earlier. This announcement is bound to create a lot of excitement not just in Pakistan but also in countries that have strong reservations about Pakistan’s nuclear programme

Before discussing the implications of the deal, it is important to point out that there has been no announcement from the French government’s side on this issue so far. Exactly what has been offered and on what terms, is not known. However, there are reports that an official from Mr Nicolas Sarkozy’s office observed that the French president had confirmed his willingness to ‘cooperate with Pakistan in the area of nuclear safety’.

In the light of this, it appears that the Pakistan government is counting its chickens before they’ve hatched. The major concern of the nuclear powers at the moment is the security of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal and how it can be safeguarded from falling into the hands of militants. This contingency has been debated in strategic circles and evidently came up in Paris as well prompting Mr Qureshi to assure the world that Pakistan is a ‘responsible nuclear power’ that can handle the safety of its nuclear arsenal and proliferation concerns.

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Russia to help Pakistan build N-power plants: The Nation

By: Maqbool Malik | Published: March 28, 2009

ISLAMABAD - The Russian Federation and Peoples Republic of China have decided to bail out Pakistan from the constraints, relating to establishing the new nuclear power plants, for meeting the country’s pressing energy needs.

TheNation has learnt reliably from diplomatic sources that Moscow and Beijing have decided to offer its cooperation to Islamabad in setting up new nuclear power plants to meet Pakistan’s growing energy needs. The sources also said that Russia-China offer contains the conditions that the nuclear power plants, offered to Pakistan, should be set up under the supervision and in collaboration with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

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China to bear 85pc cost of Chashma power projects: The News

By Mehtab Haider

ISLAMABAD: China will provide 85 per cent cost for construction of Chashma Nuclear Power Projects (C3 and C4) by extending suppliers’ credit, paving the way for generating additional electricity up to 680 megawatt over the next seven years to overcome energy shortages in Pakistan, it is learnt.

According to highly placed official sources, Pakistan and China are going to finalise the modalities of the supplier credit for two more nuclear power reactors (Chashma 3 and Chashma 4) in the upcoming visit of President Asif Ali Zardari, who is visiting Beijing from Feb 20.

During the last visit of President Zardari, China and Pakistan had signed a deal for C3 and C4 and now finalisation of related modalities will be on the agenda of the upcoming highest level visit of Pakistani authorities during this ongoing week.

In the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) for 2008-09, the government had estimated the cost of C3 and C4 worth Rs129.905 billion, with foreign currency component of Rs80.360 billion. The government has allocated Rs220 million for the C3 and C4 in the current fiscal year 2008-09. “The cost of the C3 and C4 has already gone up from Rs129 billion to over Rs140 billion mainly because of depreciation of rupee against dollar in the ongoing fiscal year,” a high-level official in the Planning Commission confirmed while talking to ‘The News’ here on Monday.

China has already installed a 325-megawatt reactor at Chashma and is currently working on another with the same capacity that is expected to begin producing by 2009-10. Pakistan is facing a deficit of 4,000 to 5,000 megawatts, resulting in torturous load-shedding for hours in a day.

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Pakistan gets power plant deal: LA Times

From the Associated Press

October 19, 2008

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN -- Pakistan said Saturday that China would help build two more nuclear power plants in the energy-starved Muslim nation, tightening the bonds between the two countries as rising militant violence in Pakistan strains its anti-terrorism alliance with the United States.

The nuclear agreement was among a dozen economic cooperation accords signed last week during President Asif Ali Zardari's visit to Beijing, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said.

Although Qureshi gave few details, enhanced cooperation with China probably will help ease Pakistan's resentment of a recent deal allowing U.S. businesses to sell nuclear fuel, technology and reactors to India.

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Pakistan, China may enter deals for more nuclear power plants: Tehran Times

Pakistan will seek help from China in installing two more nuclear power plants at Chashma, materialising the Diamer-Bhasha Dam project, and joint ventures in manufacturing and assembling cars during the visit of President Asif Ali Zaradri to Beijing that is to start from October 14.

According to a senior government official at Finance Ministry, Pakistan and China may also strike deal in manufacturing and assembling of trucks. “This is basically the proposal of Heavy Mechanical Complex.” Islamabad and Beijing may also enter into agreements for setting up steel mills and cement plants and for developing the agriculture industry. China would be invited to invest in pesticide production and hybrid seed industry. During the visit, Pakistan would also seek cooperation in developing the electronics industry and home appliances.

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