IPRI organizes webinar on security and development in Balochistan.

ISLAMABAD -- The Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) on Thursday organized a special webinar under its National Dialogue Series on 'Security and Development in Balochistan: Existing Dynamics and Way Ahead' here in the federal capital.

Eminent speakers included Lt. General (Retd) Nasser Khan Janjua, Former National Security Advisor and Southern Command Commander; Mr Jan Jamali, Former Chief Minister Balochistan; Mr Rafiullah Kakar, a development and policy expert from Balochistan; and Dr Farhan Hanif Siddiqi, Director at School of Politics and International Relations, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.

In his Opening Address Acting President IPRI, Brigadier (Retd) Raashid Wali Janjua flagged the attention of panelists towards multidimensional nature of Baloch grievances, focusing on human security imperatives and their linkage with overall security and development of the province. Without a healthy symbiosis between state's security efforts and province's development needs with a people-centric focus, peace and development would remain an elusive goal.

Delivering his Keynote Address titled 'Reflections on Balochistan Issue', Lt. General (R) Nasser Khan Janjua, Former National Security Advisor, highlighted that Balochistan is gifted in terms of its geostrategic location as well as being a well-spring of natural resources which if fully utilized could be a catalyst for the entire region.

He lamented that since the inception of the state of Pakistan, these unique attributes have made Balochistan a target for Pakistan's adversaries, being aggressively used as a front by both internal as well as external rogue elements to destabilize the country.

He stressed that visible and real improvement in the Balochistan situation can only come about not by imposing force, but by ruling the hearts and minds of the people through love and accommodation.

He acknowledged that the initial fault lay in failure to integrate Balochistan. However, he asserted that it was not only the state's failure to integrate Balochistan, but also the failure of sections in Balochistan to get integrated. The root cause of insurgency, he said, was sub-nationalism.

He highlighted that to control insurgency, 'a people-centric civil-military strategy was formulated which helped Balochistan transition from flag burning to flag raising.'Balochistan, Lt. Gen. Janjuasaid, has the greatest potential in fisheries, agriculture, wind and solar energy, and vast mineral wealth. It has...

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