Balochistan Economic Importance And BLA Role as Mercenary

Continued from Day 1 And Day 2 on BLA

Day 3: The Economic Importance of Baluchistan and the Mercenary Role played by Balochistan Liberation Army

In my two articles published earlier, i tried to give an idea about the background of BLA and how it is operating for the past few decades. Not only this, we also covered the possible international supporters of this terrorist organization. Today, we will try to shed light on the Economic Importance of Balochistan and how BLA has been playing its role as a mercenary organization for different international players.

Economy of Baluchistan

Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan, covering 44% of the country’s area, but is home to only 5% of the country’s population. Its strengths lie in its wealth of natural resources, the vast rangeland, the coastal belt with 750 km of as yet undeveloped coastline, and rich mineral and hydrocarbon deposits. But this enormous resource potential remains untapped, and Balochistan lags behind other provinces in economic development. Average household incomes are low, as there is little industrial activity and employment opportunities outside agriculture and mining are limited. According to the Balochistan PRSP, poverty could be as high as 47%.
Economic growth in Balochistan, has stagnated in the past decade because of limited investment and capital accumulation. The last drought (1997–2002) decimated the livestock population, and rural incomes have been hit the hardest. Lacking a coordinated economic policy and a viable strategy for economic development, the province has seen no significant investment in productive streams (such as minerals, agribusiness, and fisheries) and human resource development. Fiscal and financial mismanagement has led to deterioration in the public service delivery infrastructure. Also, the unit cost of public service delivery in the province is high, as population density is only 19 per square kilometer (against the national average of 166). As a result, Balochistan’s human development indicators, including gender disparity, are much worse than the national average. Female literacy is 16% (versus 32% for Pakistan), while maternal mortality is 600 per 100,000 live births (versus 350 for Pakistan). [Source Asian Development Bank]

This is a really depressive situation and when ever people are economically deprived, they will always resort to terrorist organizations like BLA and will fall prey to their propaganda.

Economic Potential in Baluchistan and Interest of Regional and Global Powers

Since Baluchistan has long been neglected by the Pakistani government, it is logically not difficult for it to fall prey to the outside powers that interfere in it through different channels. As i wrote in the earlier articles, USA, Iran, Afghanistan, Russia, China, UAE and India are actively involved in the province of Baluchistan.  The only reason these countries are interfering in the provice is soley the weakness of Pakistani government since we have not done enough for the province ourselves and hence led the doors open for foreign interference. That is one reason that no other province has been so prone to foreign interference.

Russian Interest in Baluchistan

Historically, Russian has been active in the Province of Baluchistan before and during the Cold War Era since it viewed it as a best possible route to get an access to the warm waters of Arabian sea. The USSR was not in love with Afghanistan and the only reason it invaded the country and militarily occuped it was its desire to go further and create a port in the warm waters of Arabian sea. It could have been the best route to channel the natural resources of Central Asian countries to the rest of the world. No other route made any sense both in terms of cost and route security. The Central Asian Statese to Afghanistan and then onwards to Baluchistan and Arabian sea was the most viable route. Moreover, a port in Baluchistan would have also given Russians an easy way of blocking the oil exports from Iraq, Kuwait, UAE and Iran. This would have given Russians a huge strategic importance of effectively choking the world energy supply routes. Without Russian oil and choking this Arabian route would have created serious energy crises in the world.

The Russians created and then funded BLA to counter Pakistani interference in Afghanistan on behest of its former ally America. The Russians wanted to shift the problem to Pakistan in the same manner the Americans have done recently. The Russians wanted to shift the Afghan problem to Pakistan and make it the problem of Pakistan so that Pakistani’s can themselves solve it. Currently, Pakistan is more aggressive in solving the Taliban problem since Americans effectively shifted it to Pakistan. Anyways, we will touch this when we talk about American interests in the region. The Russians were not interested in the remaining Pakistan since Baluchistan effectively solved their problems. The BLA was activated with funding and support of Russia and ground agents of India and Afghanistan. Afghan Pashtuns were generally the natural choice since they spoke the same language as the Pashtuns residing in Balochistan.

With the loss of Afghan War and resulting loss of  Cold War and dis integration of Russia, the support for BLA vanished and Indians were not in a position to fund the project all alone. The withdrawal of Russian support resulted in disabling the BLA and we all know how the group went into hibernation period.  According to an interview of two former KGB agents who served in Baluchistan,  the following were their answers to the two questions related to Russian interest in Balochistan:

Question: What was the purpose of Russian invasion of Afghanistan?

Misha: The Soviet Union was not in love with Afghanistan itself and by now everyone must have understood it. We, or at least our leaders, wanted a convenient corridor to the warm waters of the Indian Ocean — the idea was to first establish full control in Kabul and from there to raise the double-bogey of Pakhtunistan and Greater Balochistan and try to detach at least a part of Balochistan from Pakistan and to either merge it as a new province of Afghanistan or to create a new country that should be under the firm control of Moscow. That would have solved most of the problems facing Kremlin.

Question: When you helped create BLA back in the 1980’s, what objectives did you have in mind?

Sasha and Misha: It was simply an instrument to create problems in Pakistan. There were no ideological reasons – it was merely a pragmatic solution for a strategic problem.

However, with the American invasion of Afghanistan, the Russians were again brought into the picture. The Russians have currently two main interests in the province of Baluchistan i.e to take revenge from Pakistan for its role in its defeat in the Cold War and to find a channel for the Central Asian Oil to the rest of the world since it indirectly control it. The reliance of the world on the Central Asian oil will give strategic advantage to Russia in the coming years since it still holds considerable influence over these states.

American and Chinese Interest in Baluchistan:

Americans have been interested in the Baluchistan for a long time. Since the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, their level of interest has considerably increased. As i said earlier in my article in Day 1 and Day 2, Americans air support and intelligence  missions primarily operated from the province of Baluchistan. The pictures of US drones parked at Shamsi air base in Baluchistan is a public item. Not only this, the Americans also has their eyes on the Chinese presence in the nearby Gawadar port and they would not allow the Chinese to fully operate the Gawadar port at any cost. The Gawadar port, which was partly built by China, was supposed to provide a secondary base to the Chinese navy in the region and that would have brought them in dirert sight of American naval forces in the region. It would have also provided the Chinese with a direct strike range on the American forces stationed in the Gulf. Since Americans view China as its potential adversary, they could never allow such close presence of Chinese Navy and forward listening post. The Americans started lobbying Pakistani government against this move but the Chinese were effective in countering it. It was at that moment that Americans resorted to dirty techniques. To fulfill their dirty agenda, they needed some local group and Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) was the natural choice since it has a long history of operations in the province and would take away the direct blame from the Americans. To activate the BLA, the Americans needed Russian, Indian and Afghan support, which they readily found. The rest of the story of how BLA was activated has already been covered in our first part and hence there is no need to narrate it again here.

The Americans through the BLA were able to effectively remove Chinese presence from Baluchistan. They attacked Chinese engineers working in Baluchistan that resulted in death and injuries to many of them.  Below are some of the links:

Three Chinese Engineers Killed in Baluchistan

30 Dead in Attack on Chinese Engineers Van

Beside the Gawadar port, the Chinese were also working on the Copper and Zinc mines in the Balochistan province which would have resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars to Pakistan but the Americans could never let the Chinese to get involved and hence they were routed from the province. The Chinese protested to Pakistani government and since US has a much greater infludence on Pakistan, the Chinese were forced to abandon most of the projects including Gawadar port. The Americans achieved their first victory and Pakistan in general and Baluchistan in particular lossed. The Indians also got victorious since they also feared that China was effectively encircling them and hence with the withdrawal of Chinese from Baluchistan, they also achived half of their overall objectives set for Baluchistan.

I will share with you few excerpts from a report by Strategic Studies Institute of American Military titled “BALOCH NATIONALISM AND THE GEOPOLITICS OF ENERGY RESOURCES: CHANGING CONTEXT OF SEPARATISM IN PAKISTAN.”

The report will give you a clear idea as to how the Americans think about the Baluchistan province and importance they attach to it.

In Afghanistan’s Shadow, a book published in 1981 by well-known author Selig S. Harrison, examined that era’s threat of Soviet expansionism in the light of Baloch nationalism. It was in Balochistan,1 the vast and sparsely populated province in southwestern Pakistan, that the Pakistan army had ruthlessly suppressed a tribal separatist insurgency in the course of the 1970s. Rebellious Balochistan lay between Afghanistan and the sea. Since Soviet forces had militarily occupied Afghanistan in late 1979, the possibility had naturally arisen that Soviet leaders might be tempted to realize the long-cherished Russian goal of securing a warmwater port by exploiting lingering separatist grievances in neighboring Pakistan. “A glance at the map,” Harrison wrote at the outset of his book, “quickly explains why strategically located Balochistan and the five million Baloch tribesmen who live there could easily become the focal point of superpower conflict.” Over a quarter-century has passed since Harrison made that observation. Baloch nationalism is again on the rise, and Balochistan is again the scene of violent encounters between Baloch militants and Pakistani security forces. Not surprisingly, in comparing today’s insurgency3 with its 1970s forerunner, we find numerous continuities. Conspicuous among them are the government’s persistent refusal to concede any legitimacy to Baloch nationalism or to engage the Baloch nationalists in serious political negotiations.

These refusals run in company with its parallel tendency to secure its aims in Balochistan mainly by military means. No less evident, however, are the discontinuities between the earlier and current episodes of Balochinsurgency.  These discontinuities have arisen because the context of today’s conflict in both its external and internal domains has in the meantime undergone some obvious transformation. The Soviet Union is no more. Shrunken Russia’s historical quest for a warm-water port now seems barely conceivable and is rarely discussed. American and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces have taken the place of Soviet troops in Afghanistan, and today the Afghan enemies of these Western forces, in more than a few instances, are drawn from the ranks of what were at one time their staunch anti-Soviet allies. In the 1970s, Pakistan was just recovering from a disastrous military defeat suffered at the hands of India. It today manages to sustain a comprehensive dialogue with India aimed ostensibly at permanent peace and resting on a surprisingly successful ceasefire in Kashmir that marked its fourth anniversary near the end of 2007. The 1970s episode of Baloch insurgency featured the elected civilian-led government of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as the militants’ principal antagonist. In the current round of fighting, the Baloch nationalists are squared off against the army-dominated government of President Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in 1999. The cast of characters in today’s confrontation thus has clearly undergone major modification and role reversal, and the political and strategic motivations currently driving actions in the region are not simply copies of what they were in the earlier period. It is this change in the context of Baloch separatist nationalism that is examined in this monograph. One of the most remarkable changes pertinent to today’s conflict, and the particular focus of this monograph, has taken place in its energy context. Put simply, assured access to hydrocarbon or other energy resources, including both oil and natural gas, has in recent decades assumed a far greater importance than hitherto as a driver of Pakistan’s security policy, both domestic and external. This is to say that energy security in Pakistan, as in most other countries in its neighborhood, now stands at or near the top of national priorities.  A sizable hint of energy’s gathering importance to the conflict in Balochstan was, of course, already apparent decades ago in the pages of Harrison’s book. “If it were not for the strategic location of Baluchistan and the rich potential of oil, uranium, and other resources,” he observed, “it would be difficult to imagine anyone fighting over this bleak, desolate, and forbidding land.” But what was then a mere hint has taken on Himalayan proportions, exerting weight both in government and among the separatists that is often decisive. With the gradual mounting of tensions between Baloch nationalists and the central government in the last 5 years have come frequent acts of anti-state violence, a substantial portion of them directed against the province’s energy infrastructure and personnel. Pakistan’s energy resources are thus tangibly implicated in the insurgency. Considered more closely, they have a direct and important relationship to Baloch nationalism in at least three ways. One is that Balochistan itself— the largest, least populated, and least developed of Pakistan’s four provinces—is rich in energy resources.
Among the many grievances expressed by the Baloch nationalists, the most persistent and long-standing has been that these resources, including coal as well as gas, have been exploited by the central government without adequate compensation to the province. A second way is that Balochistan is a transit site for major proposed natural gas pipelines that would carry gas from either Iran or Turkmenistan to Pakistan and from there potentially to India. One of many obstacles to the implementation of these pipeline projects has been the threat of Baloch militant attacks to disrupt gas supplies. A third way in which energy resources have a direct and important relationship to Baloch nationalism is that Balochistan is the site of a major port facility and energy hub currently under development at Gwadar on the province’s coast (see Map 1). Gwadar is the terminus of a projected interstate transport corridor that is to link Pakistan by road, rail, air, and, to some extent, pipeline with both China’s Xinjiang province and, via Afghanistan, with the energy-rich Central Asian Republics (CARs). Baloch nationalists have complained that the government is developing the port and corridor without consultation with, involvement of, or benefit to the Baloch. Moreover, the additional
fact that the port is being constructed to serve Pakistan’s huge ambition to become a major energy resource and commercial trade intermediary on the Arabian Sea lends this grievance especial geo-strategic salience. Proposed Natural Gas Pipeline Routes Transiting Balochistan. Obviously, the changed energy context exerts a strong influence on the tactical ebb and flow of the insurgent-counterinsurgent dynamic.

When the former KGB agents were asked about US involvement, the following was their response:

Question: If the Americans are interested in creating safe channel for shipping energy resources through Balochistan, why would they encourage trouble there?

Misha: That is for now. By inciting trouble, they would effectively discourage Trans-Afghan Pipeline or any other project that is intended for sending Central Asian resources to South Asia. They are not interested in strengthening the South Asian economies by allowing them to obtain sensibly priced oil and gas. They would be more interested in taking all they can to their own country and let everyone else starve if that is the choice.

Sasha: The Americans would also like to discourage China from entering into more development projects in Balochistan than it already has. By developing the port and roads in Balochistan, China is ultimately helping itself by creating a convenient conduit for commerce that would connect China concurrently with Central Asia, South Asia, and all-weather Balochistan ports. The space is limited – where China gains, America loses, and where America gains, China loses.

The detail report by the Strategic Studies Institute can be found here which sheds detail light on the Energy politics involved in the Baluchistan and how different countries in the region are trying to change the overall situation with their active interference. However, i will share some part of the conclusion of the report here. The conclusion is really strong and meaningful for all our readers who are Pro-Pakistan and hence Pro Balochistan.

The problem is not the alleged military “mindset.” The problem is rather more complicated. The energyrelated and other strategic forces impacting on that part of the world join together in shaping Pakistani perceptions of their policy requirements, in some instances narrowing options, in others practically dictating Islamabad’s actions. Unfortunately, as Justin Dunne has perceptively observed, these forces “have demanded that the central government more strongly exert its authority in Baluchistan.”74 As in the 1970s, Balochistan still stands in the shadow of Afghanistan, a source of endless policy dilemmas for Islamabad; but innumerable other shadows, equally darkening and each with its own set of imperatives, have emerged. Pakistan’s energy imperatives relate not only to its own natural gas resources but also to the proposed importation of natural gas from Iran and/or Turkmenistan, as well as to its all-important collaboration with China in groundworking a northsouth commercial and energy corridor. All these factors
crowd in upon Pakistan’s policymaking in regard to the circumstances in Balochistan. Particularly, every effort must be made to ensure that no more Chinese engineers are slain anywhere in Balochistan.75 It seems highly unlikely that these imperatives will grow any less pressing as time goes on. Giving significantly higher priority to the accommodation of the Baloch tribal minority, in the face these imperatives, will be a hard sell. However, Islamabad must come to realize that accommodating the Baloch nationalists makes far better sense than either neglecting or exterminating them. After all, energy rivalry is not the only factor affecting the context of the Baloch insurgency. Contemporary insurgency more generally, as Steven Metz persuasively argues, is undergoing fundamental change in its strategic context, structure, and dynamics, so that it bears less and less resemblance to its forebears. This metamorphosis, he says, mandates that governments adopt “a very different way of thinking about (and undertaking) counterinsurgency.” The real threat posed by insurgency, he observes, is the deleterious effects of sustained conflict. Political destabilization and a host of other damaging pathologies may be the consequence of attempts to destroy insurgents. “Protracted conflict,” he declares, “not insurgent victory, is the threat.”

The US involvement in the province of Baluchistan rests on both energy and its country punch to Pakistan for its alleged support to Afghan Taliban. The same goes for India, whose primary reason to support BLA is to destabilize Pakistan and use it as a bargaining chip on the Kashmir issue.

Other Countries Involvement:

Beside the Russians, Chinese and Americans, there are other nations who are also active in the Balochistan province. The list tops the Indians, Afghans, UAE and Israel.

The Indians will never miss any opportunity to economically cripple and politically destabilize Pakistan. Baluchistan is the perfect opportunity for them and they will leave no stone unturned to utilize this opportunity.  Indians are very well aware of the fact that Baluchistan is the economic backbone of the country from where it is getting its energy as well as all its other natural resources. Destabilizing Baluchistan means destabilizing the whole Pakistani economy. The Indian are well aware of this fact. The Indian Foreign Policy Blog states the following in one of its article:

The Balochistan province is strategically located to the south-west of Pakistan with a long coast (750 km) along the Arabian Sea, and land borders with Iran and Afghanistan. With huge reserves of natural gas and copper the region is of great economic importance to Pakistan. The country also conducted its nuclear tests in the Chagai Hills in Balochistan.
Given the strategic importance of Balochistan it could be argued that Indian interests would be better served by a friend in the region. Chinese presence in the region through the development of the Gwadar port is a matter of concern for India. With the close relationship between Pakistan and China, it is possible that the Chinese are looking at Gwadar as a way to develop a base and increase maritime importance in the Persian Gulf. It could also be a good listening post for the Chinese.

Maybe such concern over Chinese presence in the region prompted Singh to agree to its mention in the Sharm el-Sheikh joint statement. It could help divert world attention away from Kashmir and towards Balochistan, thereby helping to keep a check on Chinese activities there. (An increased Chinese presence is also not conducive to US interests in the region.) If India is as innocent of involvement in Balochistan as it claims to be, it might just be what it needs to expose the falseness of Pakistani allegations. It could have spillover effects for the Kashmir dialogue too. Bringing the Baloch issue to the forefront might even help the Baloch cause as the lack of development and violent repression by the Pakistani army is exposed for the world to see.

It might not be wise to suggest that India begin interfering in the region for strategic purposes. However, the possibility of Indian involvement in an economically and strategically important region for Pakistan could be used as leverage to force Pakistan to stop terrorist activities in Kashmir and other parts of India. Maybe Singh is a shrewder diplomat than the Indian talking heads give him credit for.

The Indians are openly accepting the theory i presented earlier that the Indians are using Baluchistan as a bargaining chip against Pakistan to mute its demands for the resolution of Kashmir dispute as per the wishes of the Kashmiri people and the UN resolutions.  Pakistani demand for Kashmir is a just demand and the United Nations has thrown its weight behind it while the Indian involvement in Baluchistan to counter Pakistan demand is based on a very false pretext. Not only this, the Indians also accept the fact that Chinese presence in Baluchistan is a hostile act for India and hence they have partly taken the blame for the deaths of Chinese in Baluchistan. The recent acceptance by Indian Prime Ministere Manmohan Singh to include Baluchistan issue in his join declaration with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani at Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt further reaffirm our stance of active Indian support for BLA.

The Iranians are troubled by the Baluchistan problem just because they do not want any American presence in the region or the disintegration of Baluchistan. The greater Baluchistan includes the Iranian Baluchistan province and hence the problem is same as that of Kurdistan. In case of BLA gaining strength in Pakistani Baluchistan, its effects will be felt in Iranians Baluchistan as well. Already, Pakistan based groups are stirring trouble in Iranian Baluchistan province. The Iranians are blaming CIA for supporting these groups and have provided concrete evidence to Pakistan as well. However, the inaction by Pakistan against American activities in Baluchistan is forcing the Iranians to get more aggressive and take direct actions inside Baluchistan. The Iranians are also trying to eliminate the Baluch insurgents and to remove the CIA from the area.

Stability of Baluchistan will also benefit Iran since it will let it to pass its gas pipeline to India successfully. However, USA is strongly against the Iranians gas pipeline project and hence it will never allow it to pass through Baluchistan. This is the main reason for the proxy war between the two countries fought in Balochistan.

The Israeli’s have their own stake in the whole dirty game being played in Balochistan. Being the only Islamic nuclear power, Pakistan has been a constant headache for Israel and hence its destabilization is a natural goal for it.

As far as UAE is concerned, it has its own economic interest in Baluchistan. Any development in Gawadar is a direct competition with UAE. Moreover, Gawadar is far more beautiful and reachable then UAE ports. In case of development of Gawadar, it has the tendency to divert the tourism business from UAE. In that case, it will be a direct on slaught on the UAE economy and hence they view it as a potential rival to their grand plans.

Conclusion:

The problem of Baluchistan is not very simple and hence i will not draw any simple conclusion here. The crises is not as simple to be closed in two lines but if i sum it up, i can say one thing for sure and that is:

“It is the primary responsibility of Pakistani Government to take care of its affairs and its territory. The outside powers will always look for their interest but it is our duty to take care of our people and our lands. Baluchistan is an integral part of Pakistan and the Baluchis are our brothers and hence we should not neglect them any more. It is time that we start to mend the mistakes committed by our leaders for the past 62 years by discriminating the province. The National Finance Commission should not discriminate the province on the assumption of population. The $10 billion that Baluchistan owns to Pakistan should be immediately returned and spent on the welfar of the people and the development of the project. Our Central Government is as much responsible for the current destabilization of Baluchistan as are the foreign factors.  I will end this long article with a Quotation from Pashtu Language, which is also widely spoken in Baluchistan”

“Kor da Sam Ka..Ghaal ta Laar Band Ka” “Keeep your house inorder and no thief from outside will ever enter it”

I really look forward to your suggestions and feedback.

There is so much more that i can write on this topic but due to shortage of time, i will close the article at this point. In case, our readers want to share some specific information or queries, please feel free to drop your comments.  In the end of the article

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