ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) on Friday refuted reports that China has abandoned Neelum Jhelum Hydroelectric Project (NJHP) or stoppage of work on it, saying all such reports are misleading and part of malicious propaganda to hurt Pakistan-China relations.
“There is no truth in any reports about work stoppage or so-called abandonment. And India is once again churning out false and baseless reports regarding Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project,” declared FO spokesperson Asim Iftikhar during a weekly news briefing here on Friday.
The FO spokesperson informed that the authorities detected a fault in the project and started working to fix the fault in coordination with the entity concerned – Gezhouba Group of China.
Asim Iftikhar pointed out that the Chinese development group has already attained full mobilisation at the site and work is being carried out smoothly on the project, with its completion projected in 2023.
He declared that the FO will not let any effort succeed in destabilizing Pakistan.
“Such efforts will not succeed as all-weather strategic cooperative partners are fully committed to strengthening bilateral cooperation for the benefit of both countries and people,” the state broadcaster quoted him as saying.
Earlier, there reports that the contractor of the project, China Gezhouba Group Company (CGGC) abandoned repair to the mega 969-megawatt Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project. According to these reports, the hydropower project was shut down since early July this year. Initially, it was shut down due to an energy crisis but later, several reasons were cited for the closure, including pending of dues.
The reports said Chinese have given the excuses of local protests over the plant and the failure of the Pakistan police to offer credible security, however, China’s sudden reversal of the project has created a major rift between Pakistan and China over joint hydropower projects.
The Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), which operates hydropower stations, also confirmed that the project has been blocked and the power station has been closed for safety reasons.
