Re: Work on Diamer-Bhasha dam starts.
they will give grant of 200 million dollars initially , read from the fifth line below and don’t read selectively .
Washington is seriously considering helping to fund the program, which would be the biggest U.S. civilian aid project in Pakistan for years. But while U.S. officials here believe the project would help repair damaged U.S.-Pakistani relations, the decision on whether to provide support comes as tension is at record levels between the two countries, with American officials accusing Pakistan’s military and spy agency of directly backing the insurgents in Afghanistan.
This week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected in Islamabad with a high-powered visiting team of U.S. civilian and military officials.
Pakistan went ahead with the official launch of the dam, which provided a positive news story for the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party, seemingly confident that the U.S., the Asian Development Bank and other international funders will come through. It’s believed that Washington has decided in principle to provide cash for the dam.
“We are committed to working with the government of Pakistan and the multilateral development banks to see how we can support the Diamer Basha multipurpose dam project,” said a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because Washington hasn’t announced its support. “Funding decisions will be made in the future.”
The official said that the Asian Development Bank was leading the financing for the project and that the U.S. decision would be tied to the outcome of the bank’s due diligence work.
While the U.S. contribution would only cover a small portion of the costs, with plans for an** initial $200 million, that money would be a straight grant, not a loan,** and would be available early on in the project, enabling Pakistan to proceed with work quickly.