India offers Pakistan 5,000MW of electricity
Muhammad Saleh Zaafir
SEOUL: India has formally offered Pakistan 5,000MW of electricity to meet its energy requirements on an urgent basis which could be transmitted through Punjab without much delay.
The offer has come from Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in a brief chat he had with his Pakistani counterpart Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani during their interaction at the margins of the just concluded second Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) here in the capital city of South Korea. Pakistan has accepted the offer, and it would examine it at an appropriate level before responding to New Delhi.
Highly placed diplomatic sources revealed to The News here that Prime Minister Gilani, while availing the recess time during the SNN had an exchange of views with several world leaders at the summit. He spoke to the Chinese and Russian presidents and some other leaders briefly besides holding seven bilateral meetings with important heads of state/government.
Indian Prime Minister Dr Singh recalled his last meeting with Gilani in the Maldives where he declared Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani as a “man of peace” and said that the process of talks between the two countries at various levels is heading at a satisfactory pace and if required, it could be accelerated. Prime Minister Gilani also expressed identical views and urged Dr Singh that their governments should be remembered for establishing enduring peace in the region and resolving the disputes that have long held progress and development in the region as hostage.
The sources said that the Indian prime minister took keen interest in the economic difficulties of Pakistan, and Prime Minister Gilani thanked him for the offer of supply of electricity. He assured his Indian counterpart that Islamabad would reply to New Delhi soon through the proper channels.
In another interesting development, the sources disclosed that US President Barack Obama congratulated Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on entering the fifth year of his government. Obama paid rich tributes to the leadership of Gilani.
The US president, who was very polite during Tuesday evening’s meeting with the PM that lasted more than an hour, expressed the hope that the government of Pakistan would continue to play its role in strengthening the democratic process in the country since he is the longest serving prime minister of his nation who has upheld the golden traditions of democracy.
Obama expressed his good wishes for the people, government and prime minister of Pakistan in their future endeavours. Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani thanked the US president for his gestures and remarks.
APP adds: Prime Minister Gilani on Wednesday urged the leading Korean company working in the field of solar energy to look into the various aspects of installing a solar energy system in Balochistan to operate tubewells as the province is facing an acute shortage of water.
Talking to Chief Executive Officer of CX Solar Dr. Choi Moon Sok, who called on him here, the prime minister asked the company to undertake a feasibility study during his visit to Pakistan in April this year, of running tubewells in Balochistan on solar energy to save the agriculture of the province from degradation as water is becoming scarcer with every passing day.
The company known for specialisation in solar energy, offered to install a solar system at the PM House as a pilot project, but Prime Minister Gilani said instead of the PM House, the company should look into the feasibility of the provision of a solar energy system in Balochistan especially to run tubewells.
The prime minister said due to the hot weather in a number of places in Pakistan, there is a wide scope for generating solar energy and a number of other companies are already working in this field.
Gilani said the Pakistan government has already been working on short-, medium- and long-term projects to resolve the energy crisis and solar energy will the helpful in Pakistan government’s efforts in this regard.
The prime minister invited the officials of CX Solar to visit Pakistan soon so that they can see the requirements of solar energy and contribute positively in this regard.The CEO CX Solar assured the prime minister that he will visit Pakistan very soon to look into the possibilities for starting solar energy system.Chairman Board of Investment Saleem Mandiviwala and other officials were also present at the meeting.
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