THE negotiations between the Khan of Kalat and the Pakistan Government on the question of accession … resumed in Quetta on March 21… . Meanwhile, the forthcoming session of the Upper House of Kalat Legislature on March 25, it is hoped, will fully clarify the attitude of the state towards the accession issue in the light of the latest developments.

Official sources in Karachi are emphatic in their repudiation of the allegation made by the Kalat Ruler that the acceptance of the accession of its “three feudatories” by Pakistan was in violation of the terms of the Standstill Agreement signed between Kalat and Pakistan on the transfer of power last year.

… Makran State which is claimed by the Kalat Ruler as a district of his state, official sources explain, occupied a more peculiar status than the other two. The Ruler of Makran, under the British arrangement, paid half of his annual revenue to the Ruler of Kalat but was officially [designated] as the guest of His Highness on all ceremonial occasions and was seated separately from the feudatory lords of the States. — News agencies

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2023