“Balochistan is the reflection of Pakistan’s destiny.” The resource-rich Balochistan, Pakistan’s biggest domain by space yet least populous, has been sinking into rebellion for more than 15 years. It occupied a significant strategic location bridging Afghanistan and Iran with a 760 km extended coastline. In history, it is one of the most imperative regions in terms of trade, as it is placed on the junctions of the roads linking South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. The largest city of Balochistan is Quetta. In various local languages, Balochistan means “the land of the Baloch.” Within the province, core ethnic groups are the Baloch and the Pashtuns. Most of the province is under-privileged, but the regional economy is harnessed by a high concentration of natural resources such as coal, oil, gold, copper and gas reserves. These resources are the sources generating substantial revenue for the federal government over the long term. Aside from Quetta, additional space of major economic significance is Gwadar Port on the Arabian Sea. However, in spite of having the bulk of natural resources, Balochistan remains the poorest Pakistani province. It is embarrassing to showcase the situation of the social sector in this territory. The province has the highest mortality rate and the lowest literacy rate in Pakistan. The literacy rate is only 44 per cent and the national average is 60 per cent. The net enrolment rate is only 56 per cent and it keeps on declining. The adult literacy rate (male) is 38 per cent; (female) 13 per cent and the total, 27 per cent. Girls are dropping out of primary schools at an alarming rate. Gender Parity Index for primary education is 0.59, whereas 0.86 in the country as a whole. Nine out of every 10 girls are out of school in rural areas; making girls and women the biggest victims of illiteracy in the territory. Similarly, the health sector also depicts the same status. The under-five mortality rate is 111/1000 live births and the maternal mortality rate is 785/100,000 live births. The proportion of the population with access to safe drinking water and sanitation is only 31 per cent. The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) is 71 per cent in the province and 84.6 per cent in the rural areas. Balochistan is divided into 18 major tribes. In the past, Bugtis and Marris were the most politically significant and prone to military confrontation. From 2005 to now, there have been several disputes; predominantly unrest in Marri-Bugti and Mekran areas blew up in Balochistan. The round of conflict began as the creation of Greedy Sardars, local tribal leaders battling for a greater share of resources, political rights and contradictory development to sustain their supremacy. At present, the rise of Baloch nationalism is the consequence of a long and complex process of liberation of the Baloch middle class. This middle-class jingoism emerged in parallel with Balochi tribe nationalism and spread to other sectors of society. The conflict has been aggravated after a tribal leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti was killed in a fight with security forces which exhaled new life into the rebellion. Moreover, any social structure in Balochistan has been a source of rising radicalism and weakened by tyrannical manoeuvres. Progressively, a power vacuum has evolved and created an explosive circumstance that links with Afghanistan’s lawless areas. The Baloch people are battling a decades-long war for their rights but are being labelled as traitors and extremists The Baloch people are battling a decades-long war for their rights but are being labelled as traitors and extremists. Constantly, terrible news is been reported ever since, regardless of government’s initiate about restoring the peace in the province. The identity of the Baloch nation is mainly frail due to the injunction on freedom of expression and beliefs beside many other disputes. One of the reasons is foreign intrusion; deviating tribal loyalties and occurrence of religious extremists have exacerbated the situation. On March 3, 2016, Pakistan arrested an Indian national, Kulbhushan Jadhav, from the border region between Balochistan and Iran. India has used Jadhav’s case as a vehicle to destabilise the restive Balochistan region. Additional, there is no suitable accountability tool to hold or any legal process to account and consequently, the terrorists have the highest freedom of action in this province. In Balochistan, the situation has been intensified with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). It serves as a significant zone in China’s Belt-and-Road Initiative, a component of a more extensive economic corridor that ends with the Gwadar Port. The Baloch people think of it as an exploitive policy and that it will further use up Balochistan’s natural resources, property, and land. International Human Rights Observers have filed prevalent stories of forcible kidnappings, rapes, extra-judicial murders and harassment, in what can be viewed as an alarming suppression of the freedom of expression and the basic right of autonomy of the Baloch people. In the search of a way out for current Balochistan muss, various factors should be looked at, which are sluggishly yet certainly sinking the province into chaos. In particular, social and economic indicators depict an unfortunate picture, which lags behind other provinces. The government has allocated supplemental funds to the province, but it should be reached to its target without any unfair means. Moreover, to achieve economic and social uplift, the government should work on strengthening the public and private institutions. The “China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)” is one of the best models to create huge public and private investments for Balochistan and ultimately for Pakistan. Amidst the three major routes linking Gwadar, Panjgur and Quetta, Balochistan has a huge opportunity as it passes through several nastiest poverty distressed regions. Besides, the province has the potential to contribute to the revenue generation of Pakistan with its engaging places to attract tourists yet little has been done to maintain that. The federal and provincial governments should make efforts to promote and develop tourism infrastructure in the province, which would increase employment prospects for the local people and render support to mitigate poverty. It would also fuel social growth through mobilisation and interaction, which at present, is a dire need of the region. To boot, political leadership and bureaucratic mechanism require taking the lead by fabrication and execution of comprehensive development reforms and policies. The development demands to be sustained by the private sector to make substantial investments for employment generation and economic & social progress. In a nutshell, why keep an area towards the rear when it could turn out to be the indispensable ground of a country. The writer is a former employee of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI)