After Broadsheet, Tethyan.

The Reko Diq deal signed between the Balochistan government and the Australian mining company BHP gave the latter a 75 per cent share in discoveries while Balochistan got a meager 25pc plus a mere 2pc royalty. There were accusations of corruption, though without any proof, leading the Balochistan government to cancel the deal. This led to litigation that finally reached the SC which declared the deal void.

After the 2017 ruling against Pakistan by a World Bank tribunal there was no way out but to seek an out-of-court settlement with the Tethyan Copper Company (TCC). The PML-N government had already concluded that this was the only way to seek reduction in the whopping $6b penalty awarded to TCC. The task was made difficult because of the PTI's relentless campaign against corruption on the part of PML-N and PPP leaders, a judiciary viewed as hostile and a vengeful NAB. Despite this the PML-N government tried in 2015 to pressurize a reluctant Balochistan administration to agree to an out-of-court deal with the Tethyan. The Balochistan government was already under fire from the opposition on the issue, leading the CM to maintain that he would not 'sell a stone of Reko Diq'.

Mesmerised by its own anti-corruption...