‘Dialogue, Not Bullets’ Key to Lasting Peace in Balochistan: Security Official
QUETTA, PAKISTAN — WEB DESK: Lasting peace in Balochistan cannot be achieved through military force alone and requires sustained political dialogue, public engagement and a long-term development strategy, a senior security official has said.
Speaking to journalists during a briefing in Quetta, the unnamed official argued that Pakistan needed to focus on “winning peace” rather than simply winning a war in the province, saying Balochistan’s complex challenges could not be solved through bullets alone.
The official described the challenges confronting Pakistan’s largest province by area as serious but manageable and called for a 10-year strategic plan instead of relying predominantly on short-term responses to recurring security crises.
A central part of that approach, he said, should involve direct engagement with ordinary Baloch citizens.
According to figures provided during the briefing, authorities conducted approximately 54,000 engagements with people in Balochistan last year and another 34,000 this year as part of outreach efforts.
The official acknowledged that people in Balochistan had genuine grievances, while arguing that some concerns were being exploited for political purposes. He advocated engaging ordinary citizens directly rather than relying predominantly on tribal elites and influential sardars.
Political Deprivation Highlighted
The official identified political deprivation as one of the province’s central challenges.
He noted that Balochistan has only 16 seats in the National Assembly despite covering a vast geographical area and argued that the Baloch political voice remained under-represented at the federal level.
He also questioned the limited presence of Pakistan’s mainstream political parties in the province, arguing that a political vacuum had allowed alternative movements and social-media narratives to gain greater influence.
The emphasis on political engagement echoes calls made by a broad range of opposition politicians earlier this year. A July all-parties conference on Balochistan involving representatives of PTI, BNP, PkMAP, National Party, ANP, JUI-F and other groups also called for political dialogue rather than force, alongside measures addressing missing persons, elections and distribution of natural resources.
Security Operations to Continue Against Armed Groups
The official nevertheless drew a distinction between dialogue with the broader population and the state’s approach towards people involved in armed attacks.
He said militants who take up arms against the state would continue to face security operations, while insisting that such measures must be accompanied by a broader political solution designed to bring citizens into the mainstream.
This distinction is important: the proposal outlined at the briefing was not a call to end counterterrorism operations, but for political engagement, development and diplomacy to operate alongside security measures.
The official also attributed part of Balochistan’s instability to foreign-backed militant networks and said Pakistan needed stronger diplomatic engagement with Iran and Afghanistan over wanted militants. These assertions were presented as the security official’s assessment and were not independently established in the briefing.
Balochistan Called ‘Pakistan’s Future’
The official described Balochistan as critical to Pakistan’s economic future because of its strategic location, mineral resources, fisheries, gas reserves and role in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
He claimed that the province could possess mineral resources potentially worth around $6 trillion. Because this is an exceptionally large valuation and the report does not provide an independent geological or financial assessment supporting it, the figure should be treated strictly as the official’s estimate rather than an established valuation.
Elite capture and corruption were also identified as barriers preventing available financial resources from translating into development for ordinary citizens.
The official ultimately argued that Pakistan still needed to find a durable political path out of the crisis, with the success of any strategy depending on winning the confidence of ordinary Baloch citizens.
The comments mark a notable acknowledgement from within the security establishment that counterterrorism operations alone cannot deliver lasting stability and that political participation, development, diplomacy and sustained public engagement will be required alongside security measures.
