QUETTA: Balochistan’s Senior Minister, Nawab Sanaullah Khan Zehri, who is also provincial chief of the PML-N, has said he will go to London soon to meet the Khan of Kalat to persuade him to return to the country.

Talking to reporters here, Nawab Zehri said: “I am in contact with the Khan of Kalat by phone and have discussed several matters, including the situation in Balochistan.”

He said he planned to visit London this month. “I will try to remove the reservations of the Khan of Kalat over issues concerning Balochistan and try to persuade him to return to the country.”

The tribal chiefs of Jhalawan and Sarawan wield enormous authority after the Khan in the former princely state of Kalat.

Nawab Zehri, who is the chief of Jhalawan tribal belt, said the entire leadership of Balochistan wanted a peaceful and economically thriving province.

“We are engaged in dialogue with the leaders living abroad and asking them to join the mainstream and contribute to progress and prosperity of Balochistan and make it a peaceful province that it used to be,” he said.

Replying to a question, he said a plan had been prepared to build 100 dams in Balochistan to meet its water needs. “Our province has been facing an acute shortage of water for several years because of lack of sufficient rains,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 7th, 2015

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