PM Khan appoints Shahzain Bugti assistant for Balochistan reconciliation
He will enjoy the status of a federal minister
Picture: PTI/Twitter
Prime Minister Imran Khan has appointed Nawabzada Shahzain Bugti his special assistant on “reconciliation and harmony in Balochistan” with immediate effect, according to a notification issued by the cabinet division.
Bugti, the grandson of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, was elected from NA-259 Dera Bugti during the 2018 General Election.
As a special assistant to the prime minister, he will enjoy the status of a federal minister.
His appointment comes two days after Prime Minister Imran Khan hinted at holding 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.
Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, the former chief minister, had begun talks with the disgruntled Baloch leaders when his party was in power but the process stalled due to unknown reasons.
