21st century ‘Great Game’: Reko Diq and Beyond

WE, the paid mercenaries doing master’s bidding but not invited to dine, at the table

Ikram Sehgal

Rudyard Kipling’s 19th-century “Great Game” encompassed mostly the region mow comprising Pakistan and Afghanistan and adjacent areas. It remained an area of turmoil in the 20th century. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the subsequent events that led to the ouster of Soviet forces and the emergence of the Taliban in Afghanistan in the last decade of the past century brought things to a head.

Who Is Selling This Gold Mine?

The mine is expected to produce 200,000 tons of copper and 250,000 ounces of gold annually

$260 Billion Gold Mines Going For A Song, Behind Closed Doors

by Ikram Sehgal

Reko Diq is a remote location in the north-west of Chagai, a sparsely populated district in north-western Balochistan. The weather in the desert there ranges from searing summers of 40-50°C to freezing winters of down to –10°C, with precipitations (winter rain and some snowfall) of less than 40mm. Periods of high wind and dust- and sandstorms have a demobilising impact on local activities and trade. Access to Chagai district is from the Zahidan-Quetta highway.