Balochistan has great geo-strategic location. It has a wealth of natural and mineral resources which has increased its significance. It has the potential to become the regional economic hub after opening up of the Gwadar Port. Unfortunately, it always remained the underdeveloped part of the country.
It can be said that it remained underdeveloped because of past governments' negligence or interference of Sardars who did not want the province to be developed.
Interference by the external, elements is also another impediment in the way of the provinces progress as Pakistan has borders with Afghanistan and Iran. India never misses an opportunity to destabilise Balochistan.
Establishment of larger numbers of Indian consulates in Afghanistan, near Pakistani border, has created apprehensions among Pakistani thinkers as it does not have so many consulates in the USA, a superpower.
There is no need of many consulates in Afghanistan as India does not have much of its citizens and business there. Establishment of these consulates near Pakistani border has different motives to create internal instability in Pakistan.
Balochistan is a land of contrast. It has places with lofty and rugged mountains - Chiltan, Takatu, Sulaiman, Sultan etc and plains stretching hundreds of miles. It has fertile land like that of Nasirabad, as well as tracks which are thirsty for centuries, and where even a bush could hardly be sighted, like that of Pat section of Sibi district and Dasht-e-Makran in Makran division.
It is a gateway to land-locked Central Asian Republics and Afghanistan. The efforts to link the Gwadar Port with the railway network of the country, and eventually to extend it right up to Turkmenistan, would create integrated railway bondage between India, Iran, Bangladesh and Central Asian Republics. In recent years, the government has started a number of large-scale development projects in Balochistan, which were partly designed to generate local employment.
The major attractive areas in Balochistan are experiencing swift progress like, for example, Gwadar project, completion of Mirani Dam, Subk Zai Dam, fast completion of coastal highway and revival of Saindak copper and gold project. Projects of Duddar Lead and Zinc, Dilband iron ore and Rekodik copper and gold are running successfully.
Nowadays Balochistan is fast marching towards increased economic activity with the completion of some mega projects, the Gwadar Port and coastal highway. Its people are already reaping the benefits of the coastal highway.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has announced Rs 17.5 billion mega package for uplift projects in Balochistan which is in addition to 32,000 jobs promised for its youth.
Government is particularly focusing on strengthening of infrastructure and 35 percent of National Highway Authority's budget is being spent on building a network of roads and highways in Balochistan. Coastal Highway, Mirani Dam have been completed and Subk Zai Dam will be completed next year.
In his recent visit to Quetta, President General Pervez Musharraf has announced grants of Rs 6.3 billion for various development projects in Balochistan. He announced Rs 1 billion for Quetta, Rs 100 million each for the 28 districts of the province and Rs 2.5 billion for the parliamentarians for development schemes in their constituencies.
He announced seven new cadet colleges, two more campuses for Balochistan University at Gwadar and Turbat, 1,000 scholarships for Baloch students, with free boarding and lodging facilities at the best colleges and schools of the country. Government is paying its utmost attention on Gwadar, and spending billions and billions of rupees in Gwadar.
Gwadar is one of the most important coastal towns of Pakistan, besides being the biggest fishing centre in the entire coastal belt of Balochistan. The coastline is peculiar in that it has its own characteristics, different from the rest of the province and Gwadar.
Gwadar is located on the south-western coast of Pakistan, close to the important Straits of Hormuz, through which more than 13 million bpd of oil passes. It is strategically located between three increasingly important regions of the world: the oil-rich Middle East, heavily populated South Asia and the economically emerging and resource-rich Central Asia.
Gwadar Port will generate substantial economic opportunities for the people of Balochistan and would contribute towards realising its immense potential in fields like agriculture, minerals, fisheries and tourism.
The Government of Pakistan has initiated several projects, with majority financial and technical assistance from China, to develop Gwadar's strategic location as a goods transit and trade point. The primary project is the construction of a deep-sea port at Gwadar to enable high-volume cargo movement to and from the landlocked Central Asian states.
The new port will also encompass conversion facilities to allow for the movement of natural gas as a part of plans for a termination point for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan natural gas pipeline.
The secondary project is a coastal highway connecting Gwadar to Karachi, whose $200 million cost will be completely financed by the Chinese. Gwadar will serve as a port of entry for oil and gas to be transported by land to the western regions of China.
Today Gwadar has great attraction for foreign investment and China has great interest in Gwadar, that is why China has pledged $50 billion investment to Pakistan to develop Gwadar Port on the pattern of its Shenzhen port over the next five years. The plan referred by Beijing to Islamabad indicated that Chinese investment for this mega project will come in two phases and its lion share will go to the petrochemical industry.
On behalf of China, the Great United Petroleum Holdings Company Limited (GUPC) has started work on the feasibility study of the strategic project of petrochemical city at Gwadar to be constructed with an initial investment of $12.5 billion.
Saudi Arabia is interested in linking Gwadar Port with the Saudi Port to cater to the needs of travellers using sea routes to perform Umra. There are reports that the Saudis are interested in starting ferry service between Gwadar and the Southern seaports of Saudi Arabia for Hujaj. Besides, they are also interested in livestock development and transporting the bulk cargo using Gwadar Port.
Oman, Iran and other countries have also shown their interests to invest in Gwadar. The Kachhi canal is another important project that will ensure that Balochistan gets its share of water from the Indus.
The canal, when completed, will bring more than 800,000 acres under cultivation in the Kachhi and Nasirabad region. The mega project would cost around Rs 54 billion.
The Government has launched a large number of uplift projects in Balochistan. They will benefit different sectors of the provincial economy. They will boost production and generate enough employment for the people of the province. The projects are aimed at ending the sense of deprivation among the people of Balochistan. It is hoped that these mega projects will usher in an era of economic prosperity in the region.