Pakistan sits on $7tr mineral trove, claims planning minister

ISLAMABAD: Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has claimed that Pakistan estimates its mineral endowment at more than $7 trillion.

Mr Iqbal made these remarks in a conversation with Farwa Amin, director for South Asian initiatives at the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York, as per a statement issued by the planning ministry on Tuesday. The minister said large-scale mining operations required heavy up-front investments and extensive gestation periods, and the country’s volatile political climate was a primary deterrent to international resource developers.

He said that with improved macroeconomic stability, the government was actively courting foreign partners, including US firms, through mechanisms such as the memorandum of understanding with US Strategic Metals, potential EXIM financing and participation in critical-minerals ministerial processes.

Indus Water Treaty

Mr Iqbal said India unilaterally held the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, describing it as the “first instance” in modern history of water being weaponised and creating a serious new security challenge for Pakistan. He said the 70-year-old treaty had remained “untouchable” even through multiple wars between the two countries. He warned that India could now deny Pakistan water when it was needed for crops and release it when it was not required, turning a shared resource into a potential instrument of pressure.

He said Pakistan was accelerating construction of new reservoirs to create a strategic buffer, adding that the Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand dams, once completed, would add roughly six million acre-feet of storage capacity.

These projects are intended both to stabilise water supply against climate-driven variability and to reduce vulnerability to upstream manipulation, he said, adding that Islamabad was pursuing diplomatic channels to prevent the dispute from escalating into conflict.

He also placed geoeconomics at the centre of Pakistan’s foreign policy under the “Uraan Pakistan” framework and the 5E strategy, arguing that the relationship with the United States in particular must move beyond the traditional security-geopolitics axis.

Ties with US, China

Mr Iqbal was equally clear that en­­gagement with the US would not come at the expense of China. He described China as a “trusted partner” that stepped in during Pakistan’s energy crisis with the first phase of the CPEC, delivering approximately $25 billion in investment that ended prolonged power shortages and upgraded highways, fibre-optic networks and Gwadar Port.

Published in Dawn, August 26th, 2026