ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday laid the foundation stone of a 303km highway in Balochistan, promising to expedite development projects in the southwestern Pakistani province.
Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, is Pakistan’s largest in terms of land area but its least populous and underdeveloped. It has witnessed a low-intensity insurgency for the last two decades, fueled by anger that its abundant reserves of natural resources are not relieving citizens from crushing poverty.
During a visit to Quetta, Balochistan’s provincial capital, Sharif inaugurated construction work on the part of the N-25 highway that connects Khuzdar city with Kuchlak town.
Addressing an event held to mark the inauguration, he vowed to accelerate development in Balochistan and end poverty.
“With unity and consensus, Balochistan will be put on a path of rapid development and prosperity,” he said.
The Karachi-Quetta highway was known as a “killer highway” as countless people had been killed in fatal accidents while traveling on it. Sharif said his government is serious about turning it from a dangerous highway into a prosperous one.
He directed the National Highway Authority (NHA) officials to complete the entire 814km N-25 highway from Balochistan’s Chaman city to Karachi within one-and-a-half years, adding that the highway’s completion was one of the key demands of the people of Balochistan.
Balochistan Chief Minister Balochistan Mir Abdul Qudus Bizenjo, right, receives Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Quetta on April 23, 2022. (Photo courtesy: Balochistan CM secretariat)
Sharif also spoke about the issue of missing persons, which continues to spark revolt in the province.
A federal commission on enforced disappearances set up in March 2011 listed 8,122 cases of missing persons reported nationwide by June 2021, of which 5,880 have been resolved. At least 500 people on the list are from Balochistan.
“Without resolving the missing persons issue, all the development projects in Balochistan can’t heal the wounds of the people of Balochistan,” he said, adding that he would resolve the issue with the help of Baloch nationalist leader Akhtar Mengal.
Governments in the past have attempted, and failed, to win over dissidents. The need for peace is more urgent than ever before, especially in the last decade as China has turned its attention towards Balochistan’s wealth of copper, gold, gas and coal deposits and invested billions of dollars in the province.
Separatist militants have frequently targeted Chinese projects, including its construction in Gwadar, a strategic port on the Balochistan coast.
