ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday said that the people of Balochistan have the first right on the resources of the province as the betterment of their lives would make them own the development.

“The people of Balochistan have the first right on the resources of the province. When their lives and those of their children change for the better, they will own development and become a partaker in it,” the prime minister wrote on social media.

The prime minister spent an “eventful” day in Gwadar on Thursday along with federal ministers, army and naval chiefs, governor and chief minister of Balochistan and the government officials, where he inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for a series of development, infrastructural and educational projects that would change the destiny of the region.

“Despite sporadic attempts here and there, Balochistan has been a victim of our collective neglect. The province has not progressed at par with other federating units, which is a shame,” he remarked.

He recalled that he had toured all the affected regions of Balochistan during the devastating floods last year and saw the conditions for himself.

Prime Minister Shehbaz said that his idea of development was rooted in the uplift of the standards of living of the people as it was their socio-economic well-being and welfare that formed the core of real development.

He reiterated that Pakistan’s progress was linked to that of Balochistan.

“My meeting with the youth of the province on the occasion of distribution of laptops was a high point of my visit. Their beaming faces reassured me that the future of Balochistan and Pakistan is in safe and responsible hands. The old guard only needs to do their bit,” the prime minister remarked.