Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday stressed that consensus among provinces was necessary for unity and ensuring the “true spirit of a federation” within the country.

Addressing the Balochistan Workshop in Islamabad today, PM Shehabz recalled various challenges faced by the people of Balochistan. Noting that some of those challenges required financial resources, the premier recalled meetings in Lahore held ahead of the 2009 National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, which he had attended as the then-Punjab chief minister.

“I would like to mention in all humility that in Lahore, all four chief ministers were gathered together, along with their finance ministers. Three days’ marathon session went on without a break — of course, when night fell, we would go for a few hours’ rest and then gather the next morning again.”

He noted that then-Balochistan CM Aslam Raisani had conditioned the acceptance of the NFC Award on “100 per cent financial resources being added to Balochistan’s share”.

“I said Punjab is ready to contribute whatever amount is required to meet my brother Aslam Raisani’s demand, and this is what we call the true spirit of a federation and what we call four brothers living under a roof,” PM Shehbaz said.

“The question now is how to meet these challenges so that the people of Balochistan — Baloch, Pashtun and all other communities living there — should not only own Pakistan but also feel like active participants and beneficiaries of economic growth.”

PM Shehbaz noted that the issues of Balochistan “will persist tomorrow as well, but to resolve them, one thing should come first; that Pakistan is our home and we have to put out the fire together”.

During his address, PM Shehbaz highlighted that Balochistan “voluntarily joined Pakistan”, terming the event “something history will always remember in golden words”.

He noted that the province was blessed with “infinite natural resources, which run into trillions and trillions of dollars”. “But unfortunately, those great natural resources of wealth and still hidden and buried under tonnes of mud and mountains,” the premier lamented.

“Unfortunately, what has happened in the last few years, rather spanning over more than a decade, is a matter of self-introspection,” the prime minister said.

Throughout his speech, PM Shehbaz underscored the need for unity among the people of all provinces.

“Baloch people have always been very, very generous to those segments of society who either migrated to Quetta or were living there for ages. Pashtuns, of course, are a part of Balochistan, Punjabi migrants and then other tribes living in Balochistan too,” he asserted.

“There was complete harmony and peace existed between the early segments of society for a very long time,” the prime minister highlighted.

He further said: “When I speak of Balochistan’s brothers, sisters and children, I am not referring to any geographical division, because we are Pakistanis first, then Punjabis, Baloch, Sindhis or Pashtuns.

“What happened then that distance developed between us, and complaints and grievances came into existence even though terrorism had been completely eradicated in Pakistan in 2018,” he said, terming it a “piercing” question that needed to be answered.

PM Shehbaz went on to recall that the Regional Cooperation for Development Highway (also known as N-25), which connects Karachi to Chaman, was infamously known as the khooni road (killer highway) in Balochistan due to “accidents that occur every other day there”.

The prime minister highlighted his government’s decision in April this year to divert money saved from reduced oil prices to development projects in Balochistan by skipping providing relief to fuel consumers.

“This killer road has a [reconstruction] estimate of Rs300bn-350bn,” he said, adding that the petrol and diesel prices declined by about Rs8-10 per litre. “I calculated so it amounted to Rs180 billion per year. If I retain that, then this killer road can be turned into a road of peace.

“My sole reason for this decision was harmony, bringing together provincial affection and promoting unity […] These are the decisions through which Pakistan can definitely come out of these challenges,” the premier asserted.