New Delhi: The Pakistani government is in talks with China to acquire three large nuclear power plants for around $13 billion, officials said, a blow to international efforts to restrict trade in nuclear technology, The Wall Street Journal reported.
A deal to purchase three reactors would be in addition to last year's agreement for China to build two nuclear plants in Pakistan's southern port of Karachi.
The reactors would help plug the gap in Pakistan's electricity supply and cement an alliance with China aimed at counteracting arch rival India.
US officials expressed concern at the possibility of a deal, which would bypass international rules against nuclear exports to countries that, like Pakistan, haven't signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Negotiations are continuing with China for three more plants, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told a cabinet meeting this month, according to those present.
The discussions about additional plants had previously not been made public.
The three Chinese reactors would likely be placed in the center of the country, at Muzaffargarh, in Punjab province, at a site now being prepared, officials said.
Two other advanced 1,100-megawatt reactors from China are due to be built near the southern port of Karachi, under a $9 billion agreement completed last year.
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