Pakistan, Saudi Arabia ink multiple agreements valuing $2 billion

ISLAMABAD: Amid a renewed wave of separatist violence in Balochistan, Chief Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti said Wednesday a provincial action plan for peace had been formulated, as he warned of the evolving and asymmetric nature of the security threat facing the province.

The statement came during the 16th National Workshop on Balochistan in Quetta, where Bugti addressed senior civil and military participants. His remarks followed a recent spike in attacks by ethnic Baloch insurgents, who have escalated their decades-long campaign by launching coordinated strikes on security forces, government officials and non-local workers.

The unrest continues despite repeated crackdowns and military operations, complicating stability efforts in a province critical to the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

“A provincial action plan for peace in Balochistan has been formed,” Bugti was quoted in an official statement circulated after the event. “Our response mechanisms have been strengthened, and terrorists cannot hold even an inch of ground permanently.”

While acknowledging that the province has long suffered from misgovernance and uneven development, Bugti rejected that unemployment and underdevelopment alone were driving unrest.

“Those who fight the state do so not because of jobs or education but because they dream of a separate state based on Baloch identity,” he continued. “This is an intelligence-driven drone war against Pakistan.”

He added that the insurgents were attempting to push the Baloch people into an unwinnable conflict.

“The Baloch nation is being dragged into a futile war,” he said, warning that acts of violence, whether in the name of nationalism or religion, would be treated the same. 

“We will embrace those disillusioned with the state and address their grievances, but those who kill innocents and want to break the country cannot be engaged outside the constitution,” he added.

The chief minister described the provincial security landscape as increasingly opaque, saying Pakistani forces were operating in “grey zones” where it was difficult “to distinguish between friend and foe.”

On the issue of enforced disappearances, a deeply contentious point in Balochistan’s political discourse, Bugti said that comprehensive legislation had already been passed.

Families of missing persons and human rights groups accuse state institutions of arbitrary detentions and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan.

Pakistani authorities have frequently rejected these claims, calling them “baseless allegations.”

Reiterating that the fight against separatist violence is not just the state’s burden but “a war that concerns every Pakistani,” Bugti said the state would remain firm against any attempt to destabilize the province.

ISLAMABAD: A senior US State Department official said Tuesday Pakistan will participate in a bilateral meeting in Washington, but declined to say whether the United States would play any role in mediating longstanding tensions between Pakistan and India, particularly over Kashmir.

The comment came in response to a question at a news briefing about whether Washington’s push for direct communication between India and Pakistan — such as on the Indus Waters Treaty — would also apply to more contentious issues like Kashmir.

Pakistan and India had a four-day military standoff in May that ended with a US-brokered ceasefire. Washington later announced that both countries had agreed to meet at a neutral venue to discuss outstanding issues.

Pakistan welcomed the proposal, but India, which has long opposed third-party involvement, rejected it.

“We have Pakistan who is going to be here for a bilat, and I’ll be participating in that,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said during the briefing, without elaborating on the schedule or the agenda. “I’m looking forward to that as well.”

Bruce did not directly answer the question on Kashmir, instead offering a general comment about addressing difficult issues.

The briefing came weeks after a rare one-on-one lunch hosted by former President Donald Trump for Pakistan’s military chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, at the White House on June 18. No civilian Pakistani officials were present at the meeting.

Trump later credited both Munir and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “acting responsibly” and preventing a potential regional catastrophe.

India has denied any US role in the ceasefire, calling it a bilateral decision between New Delhi and Islamabad, though Trump has continued to claim credit for stopping the conflict.

On Tuesday, he reiterated separately that he “stopped the recent war” between the two countries and claimed five planes were shot down during the fighting.

While political channels between Washington and Islamabad have reactivated in recent weeks, the two sides are also engaged in trade talks after Trump imposed 29 percent “reciprocal tariffs” on Pakistan in April.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, who is currently in Washington, said both countries are working to shift their relationship from one focused on trade to one anchored in long-term investment.

Speaking after meetings with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Aurangzeb said the two sides had identified priority sectors including minerals, mining, artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency regulation.

He also hinted at forthcoming “leadership-level” announcements in the coming days.