CHINA-PAKISTAN: PAKISTAN PAYS CHINA US$ 11.6 MILLION IN COMPENSATION FOR THE DEATH OF 10 CHINESE ENGINEERS WORKING ON CPEC'S DASU DAM PROJECT
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Pakistan has approved an unprecedented $11.6 million in compensation for the families of Chinese engineers
who were killed and wounded in a terrorist attack last year in a move to smooth bilateral relations as Prime
Minister Imran Khan prepares to visit Beijing in February. The Chinese contractors had demanded Islamabad
pay $38 million in compensation for their dead and injured, but the amount finally paid by Pakistan is at a
compensation rate reported to be double what Beijing normally pays families of victims in such cases. The
cabinet's economic coordination committee made the award last week. Pakistan's finance ministry said in a
press statement "The ECC, after deliberation and considering the depth of our relationship with China,
approved the proposal of payment of $11.6 million as a goodwill gesture."
(Comment: Construction work on the Dasu Dam hydropower project on the Indus River in Kohistan Province
in the country's northwest was suspended by China Gezhouba Group in July last year after 10 Chinese
personnel were killed and another 26 wounded by terrorists. Four Pakistanis were also killed and at least 13
wounded.
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