LONDON, May 09 (Online): Washington and New Delhi have 'unwittingly' added fuel to unrest in Balochistan for their quest of oil and gas, says a UK based magazine, The Economist, in its recent report titled 'The tribes arise in Balochistan'.
The magazine says, "Unwittingly, outsiders have stoked the conflict. Thirsting for oil, the US and India want to build a pipeline through the Balochistan province, running south from the wells of Central Asia, or, in India's case, east from Iran."
"India's dynamic oil minister, Mani Shankar Aiyar-who also dreams of a pan-Asian gas grid-has suggested that the second pipeline could be completed by 2011. On reaching the coast, the Central Asian pipeline would disgorge into supertankers gathered off the emerging port at Gwadar", the report says.
The magazine further says as for the pipelines, the Baloch nationalists appear to be gripped by a common delusion that America secretly wants Balochistan to secede from Pakistan, in order to secure the superpower a new source of oil.
"Indeed, the uniformity of the nationalists' expressed grievances and conspiracy theories, is striking."
About non-availability of basic amenities, the magazine says eight out of ten Baloch lack safe drinking water and nine out of ten have no gas though the province produces most of Pakistan's natural gas, including about 1 billion cubic feet per day -around 45 per cent of total production-from Sui gas field alone.
"The neighbouring field of Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri, the most belligerent of Balochistan's sardars, contains oil and coal, but the government has not dared to exploit it", the magazine reports.
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Instead of getting very creative about theories of conspiracy by US and India, it would do well for the Pakistanis to look for the cause of trouble nearer home, right in their domestic policies. Balochistan has been neglected for decades, with little in the name of governance or development. Now that the people of Balochistan have started demanding their dues, instead of introspecting and getting to the root cause of the unrest, it is being conveniently blamed on external factors, so that the entire focus of the issue is shifted away from the incompetence and bungling of the politicians and governing structure. May God give people of Pakistan the courage to see the facts for themselves. Posted by Krishna Dharasurkar, India
Magazine quoted about US and India stoking the conflict in Baluchistan is politics and people of that province must understand that they are not favouring the country by giving chance to outsiders to poke their nose into internal affairs. It would be better for Nawabs to come to their senses before its too late for them. Pakistan government can handle internal situation very well. The prosperity of that province lies in unity and total blockage of outside interference. Work for the nation not for yourself you Nawabs. Posted by mohammad, United Kingdom
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