Strategic Implications of Bunji and Bhasha Dams

What are the China’s Plans on Bunji and Bhasha Dams and what are its strategic Implications?

China is working towards re-engineering the trans-boundary flows of rivers originating in Tibet. One of the aspects of this frenzy is to built as many as possible dams in Gilgit-Baltistan, which is occupied by Pak / China currently. China will fund and build two Indus mega-dams at a total cost of $27 billion. These two dams viz. 7,100MW Bunji Dam and the 4,500MW Bhasha Dam are such huge that they are bigger than all the dams in India in terms of power generation. Further, the smaller Bhasha dam has more installed capacity that the total installed capacity of dams in J&K.

These two projects are being done under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) banner. The CPEC already covers some major strategic projects ranging from Gilgit-Baltistan to Gwadar port. These two dams are supposed to benefit the Punjab province of Pakistan and set to enlarge China’s strategic footprint in the region.

However, Gilgit-Baltistan is a restive, Shia-majority region. For many years, China has stationed its thousands of own troops here to protect its strategic projects including upgrading the Karakoram Highway and building a new railway and secret tunnels. The people in that area have concern that like Tibet, China may also swallow the Gilgit-Baltistan area. Due to this, there are several protects and Pak authorities are responding harshly to anti-CPEC protests.