WASHINGTON: During a joint meeting on energy cooperation, the United States committed to assist Pakistan in privatising at least two power distribution companies by 2015, the US State Department said on Wednesday.

The Pakistani delegation to the 5th US-Pakistan Energy Working Group emphasised the need for enhanced US assistance in the construction of large hydroelectric projects, particularly Diamer-Bhasha dam.

A separate statement issued by the Pakistan Embassy in Washington said the Bhasha Dam was crucial for the country’s future, “given its water storage and power generation related significance”.

Pakistan describes the proposed project as “a matter of life and death” and says that it will build the dam even if gets no foreign assistance.

The working group held a day-long meeting in Washington on Tuesday, focusing on “the critical importance of a stable supply of energy in accelerating Pakistan’s economic growth,” the State Department said.

This is the first working group meeting since the resumption of the US-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue. Energy issues were also a core topic of discussion during Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s official visit to Washington last month.

Both sides agreed that Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India and CASA-1000 projects would help regional integration and greatly help in meeting the growing energy demands in the region.

Neither the Pakistani nor the US statement mentioned the Iran gas pipeline project, although senior members of the Pakistani delegation told journalists before the meeting that they would raise the controversial plan.

The US claims that the project breaches its laws that prevent large foreign investments in Iran. Pakistan insists that since Iran is building the proposed pipeline it does not breach the law.

At the meeting, the Pakistani delegation also highlighted the need to expand power generation, promote energy efficiency, and to better use Pakistan’s domestic natural gas, hydroelectric and renewable resources.

Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi sought US support to attract private-sector investment to catalyse domestic gas exploration and production in Pakistan, the State Department said.

Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif emphasised the need for further US support for Pakistan’s power policy and privatisation plans.

The State Department said that the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the US government’s development finance institution, was negotiating a $95 million loan to a prospective 50MW wind power plant in the Gharo-Keti Bandar corridor.

The Pakistani delegation also met US Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, with whom they discussed potential collaboration in grid resiliency and the energy-water nexus.According to the Pakistani statement, talks with Secretary Moniz also covered ways and means to further explore the potential offered by Pakistan’s vast energy resources.

The working group also reviewed the existing and future cooperation in oil and gas as well as power sectors and discussed the renewable energy potential in Pakistan, the statement added.