QUETTA: Commander of Southern Command Lt Gen Waseem Ashraf has said that education is the key to success and prosperity and enrolment of girls in schools and colleges will open doors to a bright future of Balochistan.

Speaking at a ceremony at the Nushki Cadet College on Wednesday, Gen Ashraf said: “Fortunately today our girls are being enrolled in schools and colleges and that guarantees a bright future of Balochistan because without education we can’t make progress and develop our province.”

He said Balochistan had 11 cadet colleges in which thousands of students were getting top quality education.

Referring to regional importance of Balochistan, Gen Ashraf said that after the start of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor mega project the province had become an economic hub of the entire region and the country’s economic future was also now linked with Balochistan.

“Allah Almighty has blessed our province with mineral resources and with earnest utilisation of these resources we can turn Balochistan into the most developed province of the country,” he said.

Gen Ashraf lauded sacrifices of the people of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the fight against terrorism and said that because of these sacrifices of the people peace had been restored in the two provinces.

“Today Pakistan is on the development track after witnessing decade-long acts of terrorism,” he said.

Published in Dawn, October 17th, 2019