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QUETTA: The Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) has announced a march toward the capital of Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province on April 6, it said on Friday, amid a deadlock with authorities over the release of Dr. Mahrang Baloch and other Baloch ethnic rights activists.
Baloch and a few other activists were arrested on March 22 after they took part in a sit-in protest outside the University of Balochistan to demand the release of some members of her Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) rights group, whom they allege have been detained by security agencies. They have since been charged with terrorism, sedition and murder after the demonstration ended in the death of three protesters, according to police documents.
The Pakistan army and the government have in the past variously referred to Baloch and her BYC as “terrorist proxies” who they say are allied with militant separatist groups like the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). Baloch and her group deny the charge and say they lead peaceful protests for the rights of the ethnic Baloch people.
On Friday, the BNP-M, which led supporters out of its chief Akhtar Mengal’s tribal heartland of Wadh in Balochistan’s Khuzdar district on March 28 to stage a sit-in at Lak Pass near the Mastung district, said its two-day ultimatum for the authorities to release Baloch and other activists had ended and its would now move toward the provincial capital of Quetta.
“We are standing on our demands for the release of detained Baloch women activists, but the government committee is not hearing us seriously,” Sanaullah Baloch, a senior BNP-M member, told Arab News, accusing authorities of “digging trenches” at the Quetta-Karachi highway to stop them from reaching the provincial capital.
“We have decided to march toward the capital for another round of sit-in and protests.”
At least two rounds of talks between the government and BNP-M chief Mengal have failed to bear any result, while provincial authorities have suspended mobile Internet in Quetta for the last three days, citing “serious security threats.”
Zahoor Buledi, a senior Balochistan minister who is part of the negotiations, said the government is fully engaged in a dialogue with the BNP.
“Though we held two rounds of talks with Mr. Mengal, they didn’t bore any result,” he told Arab News. “Talks will continue.”
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by landmass and rich in mineral resources, has been the site of an insurgency for the last two decades. The separatists accuse Islamabad of exploiting the province’s natural resources, such as gold and copper. Successive Pakistani governments have denied the allegations.
Police actions against Baloch activists have intensified after Baloch separatists earlier this month staged a dramatic train siege that officials said ended in around 60 deaths, half of whom were separatists behind the assault.
More than a dozen United Nations experts demanded this week that Pakistan immediately release detained Baloch rights defenders and halt its crackdown on peaceful protests.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar this week directed authorities to finalize selected proposals to bolster trade and investment with “friendly countries,” state-run media reported. 

Islamabad has increasingly eyed foreign trade and investment that benefits its priority sectors in a bid to bolster its fragile $350 billion economy. 

It formed the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) government body in 2023 to attract foreign investment in agriculture, livestock, mining and minerals, energy, tourism and other sectors from China, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Central Asian countries and other Gulf states. 

“Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister (DPM/FM) Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Thursday directed that selected proposals should be finalized, reaffirming Pakistan’s priority to bolster economic, trade, and investment ties with friendly countries,” state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported. 

Dar issued the instructions while chairing the fourth inter-ministerial meeting on Pakistan’s investment project proposals with friendly countries, APP said. 

“During the meeting, the committee reviewed briefs on potential investments in key sectors, including infrastructure, petroleum, trade, and information technology (IT),” the state-run media said. 

Saudi Arabia is one of the countries Pakistan has aggressively pushed to forge closer business and investment deals with in recent months. 

The two countries signed 34 business agreements last year for a whopping $2.8 billion. Sharif’s office said seven out of 34 MoUs signed with Saudi Arabia had been actualized into agreements worth $560 million. 

In April 2024, the Kingdom also pledged to expedite a $5 billion investment portfolio for Islamabad.

Pakistan hopes foreign trade and investment deals with allies will help shore its foreign reserves and strengthen its fiscal position weakened considerably by a prolonged macroeconomic crisis.