After Ukraine, the US is looking at Pakistan in its continued hunt for rare minerals, Islamabad announced on Wednesday.
Pakistan has one of the world’s largest copper and gold deposits as well as rich quantities of lithium, a key component in batteries.
In return for past and future military and financial support in the war against Russia, the Donald Trump administration has been asking Ukraine for a deal that would give the US nearly half of the war-torn country’s revenues from critical minerals, oil and gas as well as stakes in key infrastructure like ports through a joint investment fund.
Now, American companies are looking at Pakistan for minerals. Their interest was conveyed to prime minister Shehbaz Sharif by Eric Meyer, senior official at the State Department Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, at a meeting in Islamabad, the government said in a statement.
This comes a day after Pakistan hosted a Minerals Investment Forum, an international summit aimed at attracting foreign investment in the country’s mining sector.
The summit saw participation from international companies such as Canada’s Barrick Gold as well as government officials from the US, including Mr Meyer, the UK, Saudi Arabia, China, Turkey, and Azerbaijan.
Mr Meyer “acknowledged the potential of Pakistan’s mineral sector”, the statement said, adding that American companies were keen to explore investment opportunities.
He reaffirmed Washington’s interest in expanding bilateral cooperation in trade, investment and counterterrorism.
Mr Sharif said Pakistan possessed mineral reserves worth trillions of dollars, offering “immense opportunities” for foreign investment that could help the debt-ridden nations climb out of its current financial morass and escape the burden of debt.
He also expressed Islamabad’s desire to strengthen ties with the Donald Trump administration.
He clarified, however, that Pakistan would not permit export of raw minerals. They expected foreign companies to process the extracted materials locally and export the finished products, he said.
In a statement issued later on Wednesday, Mr Sharif’s office said he was sending a delegation to negotiate with the Trump administration over the US president’s newly imposed tariffs and discuss ways to enhance bilateral trade.
Pakistan’s major deposits of copper and gold are in the restive province of Balochistan, where an ethnic armed insurgency has seen violence spiral in recent years.
India’s central bank cuts interest rates after Trump’s tariffs kick in
More than 150 Chinese mercenaries fighting against Ukraine, says Zelensky
Who will be hit hardest by China-US trade war as Trump boosts tariffs to 104%?
What Asian countries hit hard by Trump’s tariffs are doing to save their economies
Mysterious US military flight to Afghanistan sparks speculation about Bagram air base
How a king’s carpet gave a voice to Afghan women silenced by the Taliban
