Balochistan okays talks with disgruntled Baloch leaders
Spokesperson says they are ready for dialogue, negotiations
The Balochistan government believes that the insurgency in the province can be controlled through dialogue and negotiations, said the provincial government’s spokesperson Tuesday.
“Conflict resolution is possible through negotiation and dialogue,” Liaquat Shahwani, the Balochistan government’s spokesperson, told SAMAA TV’s Kiran Naz.
The remarks from Shahwani come a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan hinted at starting talks with armed insurgent groups in Balochistan.
“I have been thinking about talking to them,” said PM Khan in Gwadar, while referring to the armed insurgent groups in Balochistan. “Perhaps, they had some grievances in the past and [they are] being used by the other countries [and] India uses them to create chaos.”
Violence in Balochistan has drastically increased in recent years after China invested billions of dollars in the infrastructure and other development projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
In 2019, the gunmen had stormed a hotel in Gwadar, killing at least eight people.
In June, 2020, gunmen targeted the Pakistan Stock Exchange in Karachi. Both the attacks were claimed by the outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army.
Officials in Pakistan often accuse India of sponsoring terrorism and supporting Baloch armed group in the country.
Jadhav, a serving commander of the Indian Navy and a spy of the India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), was arrested in Balochistan in 2016. In his trial at a military court, he had confessed to his involvement in acts of terrorism and was sentenced to death in 2017.
Shahwani, the provincial spokesperson, said that the Balochistan and federal government will sit together to “finalise the TORs” before the beginning of talks.
Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, the former chief minister, had begun talks with the disgruntled Baloch leaders but the process stalled due to unknown reasons.
“The people affiliated with the Baloch insurgent groups are either based in Afghanistan or other foreign countries,” Jalal Noorzai, SAMAA TV’s bureau chief in Quetta, said. “And they all have support from the governments in Kabul and New Delhi and they are receiving funds from there.”
He added that Dr Baloch has said a number of times that several Baloch leaders were ready to return to Pakistan and become part of Balochistan’s politics.
