Ex-Pakistan PM asks for Chinese help in building dams

Pakistanï's main opposition leader and former prime minister Nawz Sharif has appealed for Chinese expertise to build hydroelectric dams to help his country.

This was done to urgently overcoming crippling power shortages.

"Energy is the number one priority. We have to reform the existing system. We should invite the Chinese to build dams," said Sharif.

Last year, Pakistan and China signed an agreement for the construction of the Bunji dam in northern Pakistan. The Chinese counterpart was the China Three Gorges Project Corporation.

The Bunji dam is one of eight hydroelectric projects the government has identified across four provinces. It will have 7,000MW capacity.

The hydroelectric plans, alongside other infrastructure projects, are causing alarm in neighbouring India, sensitive to water issues and the expanding influence of China.