PM Shehbaz says Balochistan's future lies in shared progress, calls for unity to overcome challenges

Islamabad (Web Desk): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday emphasized the need to nurture harmony, compassion, and brotherhood among all communities across Pakistan, stressing that unity and collective effort were the only way to confront the nation’s mounting challenges.

Speaking at the Balochistan Workshop, he acknowledged that the country faced many issues but reminded the participants that Pakistan was a shared homeland.

He said it was a collective responsibility to remove divisions, close the gaps, and advance together toward peace and development through mutual understanding and sacrifice.

The prime minister said that Balochistan held a distinctive place in Pakistan’s history and culture and was endowed with immense natural wealth worth trillions of dollars, still lying untapped beneath its rugged terrain.

Reflecting on the province’s pivotal role in the country’s inception, he noted that the Baloch leadership had voluntarily decided in Quetta to join Pakistan.

He lauded the province’s longstanding traditions of generosity and inclusivity, where diverse communities, including Punjabi settlers and other tribes, had coexisted peacefully for decades.

Shehbaz Sharif pointed out that the province’s sparse and scattered population made infrastructure development a daunting task, particularly the construction of roads.

Referring to the Karachi–Chaman highway, he said locals grimly referred to it as the “bloody road” due to the frequent accidents and fatalities that occurred there. To convert it into a safe and modern route, he said, an estimated Rs350 billion would be required.

The premier recalled that when fuel prices were reduced at one point, the government decided to channel nearly Rs180 billion annually from the savings toward the construction of this road.

“My sole intention was to promote unity, affection, and progress across provinces,” he said, adding that the decision had received support from all corners of the country.

He urged that the people of Balochistan must be active contributors to the country’s economic development and rightful beneficiaries of its growth.

“These long-standing challenges must be confronted honestly,” he said, stressing that doing so would not only improve lives in Balochistan but also strengthen the federation as a whole. Financial resources, he noted, were essential to address these enduring problems.

Recalling the 2010 NFC Award negotiations held under former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani and president Asif Ali Zardari, Shehbaz said that as Punjab’s chief minister at the time, he had supported Balochistan’s financial demands. “That day was a proud moment in our history when we stood together as brothers,” he said, adding that grievances must be resolved to restore national trust and solidarity.

Expressing concern over the reemergence of terrorism, PM Shehbaz said that that although the menace had been eradicated by 2018, its resurgence required deep reflection and decisive measures to eliminate it once again.