As Pakistan’s National Assembly contemplates expelling the French Ammbasador, the French government is providing a soft loan of ₹12.3 billion (65 million euros) for the bus rapid transit (BRT) Red Line project in Karachi.
The French Ambassador to Pakistan Marc Barety who could soon be expelled and country director of the French Agency for Development (AFD) signed the credit financing agreement with Secretary for Economic Affairs Division Noor Ahmed in Islamabad to co-finance with the Asian Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and Green Climate Fund.
Trouble started in Pakistan when the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), an ultra Sufi Islamist group came out in the street after French President Emmanuel Macron said in France people have the right to blaspheme and defended the right of the press to publish cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad.
The funding for the construction of the 26.6km BRT corridor in Karachi is also being called innovative in many ways, with the choice for the bio-methane hybrid bus technology, powered by a dedicated waste methanisation plant.
However, it all hinges on how the Pakistan Parliament votes because if the French Ammbasador is not expelled the TLP could plunge Pakistan into a civil war.
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