Pakistan’s ongoing economic crisis has laid bare the colonial relationship the Punjabi center has with the peripheral regions – Baluchistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Gilgit-Baltistan. This inequitable relationship is increasingly coming under stress, as Pakistan’s economic crisis means whatever little benefits these regions received from the centre, are now being cut back. The same is true for the neighbouring province of KPK, home to Pakistan’s largest dam, the 3,478 MW Tarbela dam along with a number of smaller projects. China-funded hydropower projects in POK and KPK. Baluchistan is home to Pakistan’s largest gas field, Sui, which has been in production since the fifties.

Source: The Express Tribune May 30, 2024 10:34 UTC