The Finance Ministry clarified on Wednesday that the two Chinese engineers killed in the terrorist attack in Karachi on Sunday night were not involved in talks with the government about being independent power producers (IPPs).
“These were our brothers, these were those IPP engineers with whom Minister Leghari — Awais Leghari sahab— and I were negotiating in terms of requesting them to reprofile debt for a bit and extend maturities so we can bring a reduction in tariff,” Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said in a televised address the previous day.
A massive explosion that occurred late on Sunday night on a road near Jinnah International Airport left three people dead, including the two Chinese engineers, and injured at least 11 others. In addition, the Chinese Embassy in Pakistan confirmed the deaths of two of its citizens and the injuries of another, as well as “some local casualties.”
The Chinese nationals were described as “Chinese staff of the Port Qasim Electric Power Company (Private) Limited” in the embassy’s statement.
The Finance Ministry provided the following clarification today: The power plant on which the two Chinese engineers worked has been the subject of negotiations between the government and IPPs. However, the IPP talks did not include the deceased engineers.
“Any impression created to this effect by media reports is misleading and has no basis,” it added.
“Chinese IPP had pledged to move forward with us, to create a win-win situation for both China and Pakistan,” Aurangzeb had stated during his speech.
“These are the individuals who stepped forward to assist Pakistan; their senior management also flew from Beijing to advance the process,”
He also expressed regret for the deaths and hoped that the dialogue with the Chinese government would continue.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had previously stated that the government was fully prepared to identify the culprits as soon as possible.
“The perpetrators of the incident will be brought to justice as soon as they are identified. Our top priority is safeguarding the lives and possessions of our Chinese brothers in Pakistan.
“This heinous scheme to harm relations between China and Pakistan will not be tolerated. PTV reported that he said, “I will personally supervise the investigation of this incident,” in a statement.
He stated that additional enhancements would be made to foreigners’ security measures.
After the attack, police have increased security measures for Chinese and other foreigners working on development projects or conducting business in the district in cities like Rawalpindi.
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