Islamabad, October 25, 2025: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday emphasized the need to foster affection, unity, and brotherhood among all segments of society across the country, saying that only collective effort, sacrifice, and hard work could help Pakistan overcome its challenges.
Addressing participants of the ‘Balochistan Workshop’, the prime minister said that while the country faced various problems, Pakistan was a shared home for all, and it was the responsibility of every citizen to bridge differences and work together for peace and progress.
“Balochistan has its own history, culture, and is blessed with immense natural resources worth trillions of dollars,” the prime minister said, regretting that much of this wealth still lay untapped beneath the province’s mountains. “What has happened over the past few years calls for self-introspection,” he added.
Shehbaz Sharif recalled that during the creation of Pakistan, the leaders and sardars of Balochistan had gathered in Quetta and unanimously decided to join Pakistan. He lauded the Baloch people for their generosity and hospitality towards those who had migrated to or been living in the province for generations, including Punjabi migrants and other tribes.
The prime minister said that people of different backgrounds had long coexisted in Balochistan with harmony and peace. He noted, however, that the province’s scattered population and difficult terrain posed significant infrastructure challenges.
Highlighting the poor condition of the Karachi-Chaman Highway, locally known as the “bloody road” due to frequent accidents and casualties, the premier said that the government had decided to transform it into a safe and modern route at an estimated cost of Rs350 billion.
He explained that when fuel prices had been reduced earlier this year, the government decided to divert around Rs180 billion annually from the savings toward the project’s construction.
“My only objective behind this decision was to promote provincial harmony, affection, and progress — and not a single voice was raised against it from Peshawar to Karachi,” he remarked.
Shehbaz Sharif urged the people of Balochistan to become active participants and beneficiaries of the country’s economic growth, stressing that historical challenges must be addressed through dialogue and collective resolve.
“These issues need to be discussed and resolved — doing so will benefit not only the people of Pakistan but especially those living in Balochistan,” he said, adding that sufficient financial resources were essential to achieve these goals.
Recalling the 2010 NFC Award, the prime minister said that under the leadership of then prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani and president Asif Ali Zardari, all chief ministers, including him, held three days of deliberations. “At that time, I announced that Punjab was ready to accept the demand of the Balochistan chief minister. It was a memorable day in Pakistan’s history — we acted like brothers,” he said.
The prime minister stressed the importance of addressing grievances and rebuilding trust among the federating units. He also observed that terrorism, which had been largely eliminated by 2018, had resurfaced in recent years, calling for introspection and renewed resolve to combat the menace.
