Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam also raked up the "disputed status" of Kashmir in response to India's protest against the proposed construction. She was reacting to an External Affairs Ministry statement, which said, "The Government of India conveyed through diplomatic channels to Government of Pakistan its protest against proposed construction of Bhasha dam in the territory that is part of Jammu and Kashmir state."
Aslam said the Bhasha dam was being constructed for the welfare of the people of the area and within the water resources management policy of the Government of Pakistan. The decision to construct the dam in Skardu located in the Northern Areas was announced by Pakistan after postponing its plans to construct Kalabagh dam in North West Frontier Province, which was firmly opposed by the major political parties of the province as well as Sindh and Balochistan provinces.
The local people, saying that it was going to displace a large number of people, too opposed the Bhasha dam.
In its protest, India said the construction of the dam on Indus river would inundate large parts of land in Jammu and Kashmir. But Aslam said the "disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir was established by the United Nations Security Council resolutions 38, 39, 47, 51 (1948) and subsequent resolutions by the United Nation's Commission on India and Pakistan."
