ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has not offered the United States access to a proposed port at Pasni, a senior security official told state-run Pakistan TV on Sunday, saying there had been no official communication with Washington and any discussions on the idea were “purely exploratory.”
The clarification follows a Financial Times report this week that advisers to Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, had approached US officials with a proposal to build and operate a port on the Arabian Sea. The plan reportedly envisions American investors developing and managing a port in the southwestern town of Pasni, located in Balochistan’s Gwadar district, to facilitate access to Pakistan’s critical minerals.
A senior security official told Pakistan TV the report did not represent official government or military policy.
“Conversations with private companies were exploratory, not official initiatives,” the state-run digital outlet quoted him as saying on condition of anonymity.
“There is no plan to hand over Pasni’s security to any foreign power. The Chief of Army Staff does not have advisers in any official capacity. Linking these ideas directly to him is misleading and inaccurate,” he added, saying the army chief should not be directly linked with any such proposals.
