New Delhi: Pakistani Finance Minister Miftah Ismail has said in a statement that  Qatar is keen to buy out two Pakistani liquefied natural gas-fired power plants based in Punjab province. The two Punjab-oriented plants are the Haveli Bahadur Shah and the Balloki power plant, both of which get their gas from Balochistan.

Ismail has cleared the initial misunderstanding that Qatar was giving Pakistan USD 2 billion in aid to save it from default during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's visit to Qatar earlier this week. In a conference on August 23, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) deputy governor Murtaza Syed stated that Pakistan will get USD 2 billion in bilateral assistance from Qatar. The news had received extensive coverage in numerous media outlets.

In a press briefing on August 26, Finance Minister Ismail also said that Qatar is keen to lease Pakistan's airports. But now that Sharif's visit is over, it is evident that Qatar declared its intention to invest USD 3 billion in a collapsing Pakistan rather than provide it a USD 2 billion aid package.

Mark Kinra, a geopolitical analyst, claims that the Gulf nations have once more stepped in to support Pakistan, their "brother nation," but there is a catch this time: they now demand something in return. He said,  "The Inter-Governmental Commercial Transactions Ordinance 2022, which allows for the sale of government company shares and assets to other nations, was passed by the Pakistani cabinet on July 24. Saudi Arabia had earlier in the year agreed to invest USD 20 billion, and it did so. The kingdom has promised to invest USD 1 billion this time, but it will be used for a delayed oil plant ".

The UAE has also made the decision to alter its strategy with relation to investments in Pakistan, similar to Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

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