Quetta, Feb 5 (IANS) The recent attacks in Pakistan’s Balochistan are not only acts of violence but expressions of a deep, unresolved political conflict that has simmered for decades between the province and the Pakistani state. Balochistan has remained Pakistan’s most underdeveloped province in terms of human development despite having massive natural resources like natural gas, copper, gold, coal, fisheries, and a strategically important coastline, a report has highlighted. Balochistan has pow…
Latest China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) News & Updates
New Delhi, Feb 4 (IANS) The Line of Control (LoC) that separates Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) is no longer a military frontier but has evolved into a developmental fault line. While Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have seen structural transformations and economic revitalisation, PoJK and Pakistan-occupied Gilgit Baltistan (PoGB) remain caught in political subjugation and infrastructural decay, a report has stated. For years, the narrative regarding this region w…
Quetta, Feb 4 (IANS) Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has admitted that the country’s security forces were ‘handicapped’ against Baloch rebels amid the fresh surge in militant violence in Balochistan, a province which has been fighting for independence from Islamabad.His remarks came as a total of 197 Baloch people, including militants from ‘Fitna al-Hindustan’ and other armed groups, were killed in continuing counterterrorism operations in Balochistan over the past three days. Addit…
New Delhi, Jan 26 (IANS) Balochistan, despite its abundant reserves of natural gas, coal, copper and gold — remains one of the poorest provinces in Pakistan, a new report has said, adding that for many in Balochistan, “China-Pakistan Strategic Convergence (CPEC) is perceived less as a development opportunity and more as a dispossession”. According to an article in CESCUBE, the “resource revenues extracted by federal authorities and military linked enterprises rarely reinvest in local deve…
Islamabad, Dec 9 (IANS) The militarisation of resource governance in Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan (PoGB) reflects a broader pattern of Islamabad’s economic centralisation, with the region treated more as a strategic buffer than a socio-economically integrated area. Also, while the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) promised development, it has instead deepened local disillusionment, a report said on Friday. According to a report in the Afghan Diaspora Network, Pakistan’s Army Chie…
Washington, Jan 8 (IANS) Although Pakistan enjoys Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA) status with the United States, which grants privileged access to military cooperation and equipment, Islamabad has consistently proven to be an unreliable strategic partner, a report highlighted on Thursday. It added that Pakistan should be viewed not as a dependable ally, but as an extremely problematic partner, warranting serious reconsideration of its MNNA privilege status.According to a report of the New York-based …
New Delhi, Jan 6 (IANS) Telenor Group has finally exit Pakistan, announcing the successful completion of the sale of Telenor Pakistan to Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), as the atmosphere to do business becomes extremely difficulty in the country.Telenor Group said in a recent statement that when the sale was announced on December 14, 2023, Telenor Pakistan was valued at NOK 5.3 billion on a cash-and-debt-free basis.“The closing of the transaction confirms this valuation leve…
Quetta, Jan 3 (IANS) As Pakistani forces continue to escalate the enforced disappearance of civilians across Balochistan, families staged a sit- in protest in province’s Kech district blocking a key stretch of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in the Tejaban region for the third consecutive day to demand the recovery of four missing members of the same family, local media reported on Saturday.The demonstration comes amid reports that the district administration broke an agreement, le…
Quetta, Dec 25 (IANS) A leading human rights organisation on Thursday highlighted grave and systematic abuses, including enforced disappearances and targetted killings across Balochistan, allegedly carried out by Pakistani forces in a pervasive climate of impunity. According to a report by the Human Rights Council of Balochistan (HRCB), 106 new cases of enforced disappearance and 42 killings were recorded in the province during the last month.“Among those killed were 11 individuals who had pre…