Pakistan On Sale? Decoding How Islamabad Has Made Natural Resources Its New Currency | Exclusive

Last Updated:October 05, 2025, 14:41 IST

“This economic cooperation with the U.S. is actually a pattern of the Pakistan army where they receive loyalty bonus from everyone,” said top intelligence sources

Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir displays a wooden box, claimed to contain rare earth minerals, during his meeting with US President Donald Trump. (IMAGE: X)

Pakistan is trading its strategic mineral wealth for short-term political legitimacy and debt relief, top intelligence sources told News18.

Evidence shows that Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir made a presentation to US President Donald Trump’s administration officials. He physically displayed mineral samples which was an unprecedented act that bypassed both Pakistan’s Foreign Office and civilian ministries.

“The $500-trillion US-Pakistan rare earth deal is less a commercial success and more a barter,” sources said.

Several Pakistani parliamentarians even raised objections to the secrecy of the MoU with US Strategic Metals (USSM). They alleged that the Army was misusing economic sovereignty and doing violation of the 18th Amendment which reserves mineral rights to provinces.

“The Frontier Works Organisation (FWO), an engineering arm of army has emerged as the primary channel for rare earth mining in Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan. They are allowing the Pakistan Army to retain full operational and revenue control. Most mineral extraction zones fall in insurgency-hit Balochistan, where the local population has neither been consulted nor compensated. The FWO in Balochistan’s corridors, now controls extraction, refining, and export — ensuring profit flows to cantonments, not communities. The Pakistan Army has militarised the mining belt and suppressed dissent under the name of internal security,” said sources.

For Beijing, this is a betrayal of CPEC’s mineral corridor understanding.

“The PLA-linked Norinco and MCC have reportedly paused some Baloch projects. This is clearly indicating growing friction between Pakistan’s two principal patrons,” they said.

“In Pakistan, sovereignty is negotiable and natural resources are the new currency of survival. This episode is a case of resource capture through army and politicians of Pakistan. This economic cooperation with the U.S. is actually a pattern of the Pakistan army where they receive loyalty bonus from everyone,” sources said.

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Manoj Gupta

Group Editor, Investigations & Security Affairs, Network18

Group Editor, Investigations & Security Affairs, Network18

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