LAHORE: There is a plan to shift the US Consulate General, situated on the Empress Road near the Lahore Press Club, to the Central Business District (CBD) as the diplomats concerned, in a meeting, showed interest to purchase a piece of land in the area.

Earlier, in 2016, the Punjab government had offered the US authorities a chunk of land in the LDA City Housing Scheme for shifting the consulate there but the plan didn’t mature.

“We had a meeting recently with a delegation, headed by the US Embassy’s deputy chief of mission. The US consul general (Lahore) was also present. During the discussion on the CBD projects, the US diplomats expressed their desire to shift the consulate to the area and we pledged to cooperate with them,” a senior official of the Punjab Central Business District Development Authority (PCBDDA)—formerly the Lahore Central Business District Development Authority—said while talking to Dawn on Saturday.

“We have offered them a piece of urban land measuring 100 kanals in the CBD’s Baab district—the land owned by the government consisting of the Walton Airport and Baab-i-Pakistan. The total land measures 900 kanal,” the official, who did not want to be named, said.

PCBDDA offers 100 kanals to the US authorities for setting up consulate

The officer said the US diplomats visited the project area, reviewed the development plans related to CBD boulevard having the country’s first high-rise/skyline, diplomatic area and other state-of-the-art infrastructure and they termed the place feasible for the consulate due to its excellent location.

To a question, he said after the US authorities finalise their plan to shift the consulate to the CBD, the PCBDDA would move a summary to the Punjab government (Board of Revenue) for approval.

To another question, the officer said another country also besides the US had shown its interest in having land in the CBD project area for establishment of its consulate general.

On June 2, a US delegation, led by US Deputy Chief of Mission for Pakistan Andrew Schofer, visited the CBD. During the visit, the delegation appreciated the efforts made by the PCBDDA in fostering infrastructural development and economic growth in Punjab.

The delegation head recognised the pivotal role of the PCBDDA in creating a conducive environment for local and foreign businesses.

It merits mentioning that a clash had erupted between the police and protesters in September 2012, when they, during a demonstration against a film, had tried to march on the consulate. The protesters had forced their way through the pickets before being stopped by police less than 50 meter from the consulate. As the police had baton-charged the marchers besides using teargas to disperse them in the Lahore red zone (Mall, Shimla Hill, Egerton Road, Empress Road etc), some protesters managed to sneak through the last barrier to forcibly enter the building and the place turned into a battlefield. Additional force had to be called to control the situation. Some protesters, who had succeeded in climbing up concrete barriers, set the US flag on fire and hoisted their flag on the roof of the building.

The incident forced the US authorities to start thinking of shifting the consulate to some other place in Lahore. Resultantly, in 2016, the Punjab government, on the request of the US authorities offered 65 acre (520 kanals) to the consulate to shift its offices outside the city in LDA City Housing Scheme. The LDA was then engaged in acquiring the land situated in seven villages–Kahna, Kacha, Thay Panju, Sidhar, Halloki, Rakh Jhedu and Toor Warraich. The land that had been offered to the US consulate in 2016 was situated in Sidhar village where the LDA had completed 80pc land acquisition.

Saudi Arabia and China too had shown their interest in establishing their consulates in the LDA City project. However, China later established its consulate in Muslim Town, Canal Road, near Campus Underpass and University of Health Sciences.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2023