Balochistan's Potential under CPEC: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

The underrepresented province Balochistan which is the largest province of Pakistan area-wise the smallest province in terms of population is the epitome of the China-Pakistan Economic Project CPEC a flagship project of China's led Belt and Road Initiative BRI. Balochistan’s natural resources and its geostrategic location remained failed to mitigate the deprivation of the province. However, CPEC is a ray of hope for the province, capitalizing untapped natural resources will result in bringing development and prosperity. Currently, 51 metallic and non-metallic minerals have been discovered in Balochistan. The province is termed "the fruit basket of Pakistan”. Addressing water scarcity, power shortages and constructing crop-specific zone under CPEC will augment production. Coastal areas of the province are massively rich in the production of lobster, shrimp, and cuttlefish and have scintillating sceneries that could be exploited under CPEC to enhance the tourism sector. However, there are innumerable challenges to the CPEC such as separatist movement, lack of advanced education, poor road infrastructure, erosion of democratic values, non-implementation of the 18th amendment, and the role of external actors. In this paper, mixed research method would be applied by using both primary and secondary data. This paper will shed light on Balochistan's potential under CPEC and will comprehensively analyze the challenges to CPEC.