Daily Times

Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday expressed confidence that Balochistan would emerge as the most prosperous province in the country within next 15-20 years due to its potential and extensive development activities being carried out there.

This year, the Federal Government allocated Rs 130 billion in its development budget for Balochistan, which is almost double that of Punjab and higher than all other provinces, he said while addressing a ceremony held to launch a book titled – Mir Hazar Khan Marri – Mazahmat Say Mufahamat Tak [From Resistance to Reconciliation].

The book, authored by Ammar Masood with research work by Khalid Farid, details the struggle of Mir Hazar Khan Marri, who unveiled conspiracies that had been hatched against Pakistan.

The minister paid tribute to Mir Hazar Khan Marri, the brave son of Balochistan, for his efforts to educate the people, especially the youth of the province, about the inimical designs of adversaries against the motherland, thereby giving them political maturity and guiding them towards reconciliation, brotherhood and harmony.

He highlighted Pakistan’s geo-strategic importance in the region, which was surrounded by the countries like China, Iran and India, with a history of thousands of years.

In comparison to them, he said, Pakistan was just like a new born at 77 years old and was still going through growing pains but would ultimately emerge stronger.

He said Balochistan had a strategically important location that remained the center of focus for world powers, with proxy wars waged to achieve dominance since the British rule.

If Balochistan were not part of Pakistan, it would be facing a situation similar to that of Afghanistan, he remarked.

The minister emphasized that Pakistan was the first Islamic nuclear state, and no one could dare to cast an evil eye on its any part. Anti-state elements were attempting to mislead the youth of the province to achieve their nefarious designs, he added.

Ahsan Iqbal noted that the Federal Government was fully aware of the needs of Balochistan and committed to ending the sense of deprivation of its people. In fact, the development of province was synonymous with that of the country, he added.

The minister recalled that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government, during its tenure from 2013-2018, launched extensive development projects in Balochistan under the leadership of then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

The road infrastructure of thousands of kilometers was established in the province, along with the opening of universities in various localities to produce the best human resources tailored to the needs of the 21st Century, he added.

Now, he said, the incumbent Federal Government had decided that 50 percent of public sector procurement would be done through the Gwadar deep seaport, aiming to boost the local economy in the province.

Ahsan Iqbal regretted that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government, during its four-year tenure, did not carry out the dredging of the deep seaport, which had decreased its depth by almost 1.5 meters.

Acknowledging the importance of Gwadar Port, he said their government completed the dredging by spending Rs 4 billion, restoring its previous depth capacity.

In a short span of 16 months, he said, the port handled 600,000 tons of cargo compared to 400,000 tons during the PTI tenure.