PM Shehbaz inaugurates new airport project, China Expo Centre in Gwadar

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday reiterated the government’s resolve to develop the Gwadar Sea Port as one of the best in the world and promised that the “fruit of development” in Balochistan would be directed towards the people of the province.

The premier passed these remarks during a visit to Gwadar, where he inaugurated several development projects along with Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir.

Addressing a ceremony at the China-Pakistan Expo Centre, PM Shehbaz said the fate of the people of Balochistan, especially those of Gwadar, would be changed through the ongoing development operation across the province.

He recalled that during the tenure of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, projects in power, infrastructure and other sectors were launched in Gwadar. However, he claimed that all these projects had been abandoned by the PTI government.

“But in the last 15 challenging months, the coalition government managed to lay the foundation of development and prosperity in the country, especially in Balochistan,” PM Shehbaz said.

Balochistan, he highlighted, was rich in minerals and other natural resources that needed to be explored. He promised that the fruits of development in the province would be directed towards the locals in the form of clean drinking water, health, education and employment.

PM Shehbaz went on to say the draft of the Gwadar port was one of the deepest among the world’s top ports but regretted that dredging of the port — which was a continuous process to prevent accumulating silt — was not ensured by the previous government.

Now, we have initiated the dredging process which would be completed by February next year, he said.

The prime minister also announced that the laptop quota for Balochistan had been increased to 14 per cent against the 6pc population share of the province and directed authorities to further increase the quota to 18pc for the next fiscal year.

Referring to the rollover of the $2.4 billion loan from China today, PM Shehbaz said the default risk for Pakistan had been averted due to support from brotherly countries such as China, Saudi Arabia and UAE.

He clarified that all the support from the friendly countries was completely “unconditional”.

The premier further directed relevant authorities to put the security of foreigners in the province on top priority.