Kohala Hydropower Project

• 03 Jun 2020

Why in News

China will be setting up a Kohala hydropower project in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

• India has already objected to the construction of the hydropower project.

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor

• The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a part of the One Belt One Road (OBOR), intended to improve infrastructure within Pakistan for better trade with China and to further integrate the countries of the region.
  
  • OBOR has two main components, One Belt - the land-based belt, and One Road refers to the ocean going ‘Maritime Silk Road’, which aims to connect the East Asian economic region with the European economic circle and runs across the continents of Asia, Europe and Africa.
• India has boycotted the Belt and Road Forum organised by China. China’s insistence on establishing the CPEC project through PoK is seen by India as a deliberate disregard of its territorial claims.

Key Points

• Description:
  
  • The Kohala hydropower project will be built on the Jhelum river.
  • It is a 1,124-megawatt power project intended to provide more than five billion units of clean and low-cost electricity annually for consumers in Pakistan.
• India’s Stand:
  
  • India has opposed the move on the grounds that the entire territory of the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are integral and inalienable parts of India.
    
    • Earlier India had also objected to the construction of the Diamer-Bhasha dam in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of the PoK.
    • In the past too, India has opposed projects jointly taken up by Pakistan and China in PoK as part of the CPEC.
  • India has consistently conveyed her protest and shared concerns with both China and Pakistan on all such projects in the Indian territories under Pakistan’s illegal occupation.

Source:ET