Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest and most resource-rich province, with critical strategic value as the centrepiece of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) via Gwadar, yet it remains one of the country’s least developed regions with deep local grievances over representation, resource benefits, employment and infrastructure. 

Nearly a decade after CPEC’s launch, the corridor has largely failed to deliver the promised transformation: industrialisation and job creation lag far behind projections, infrastructure often bypasses local communities, and security threats—including attacks on Chinese personnel—continue to undermine progress. 

Long-term success requires shifting from an infrastructure- and security-first model to people-centred development that generates tangible local benefits, addresses legitimate political grievances through constitutional channels while confronting militancy, and ensures Balochistan becomes a principal beneficiary rather than merely a transit corridor.

Balochistan occupies a paradoxical position in Pakistan. It is the country’s largest province by area, possesses enormous reserves of natural gas, copper, gold, coal and other minerals, and commands a coastline of extraordinary strategic importance. Yet it remains one of Pakistan’s least developed regions, with persistent grievances over political representation, resource distribution, employment, infrastructure and the benefits accruing to local communities.

The province also lies at the heart of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the flagship component of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Pakistan. The $62bn CPEC, formally launched in 2015 was to be a “Game Changer” for Pakistan’s economy. Conceived as a transformational economic corridor, CPEC was expected to connect China’s Xinjiang region with Gwadar on the Arabian Sea through roads, railways, energy infrastructure and industrial development. For Pakistan, it was projected as an opportunity to transform connectivity, energy supply, employment and industrial growth. For China, it offered a shorter overland connection to the Arabian Sea and an important strategic and commercial link with South Asia, the Middle East and Central Asia.

Almost a decade after its formal launch, however, the central question remains: Has CPEC delivered the transformation promised to Balochistan and Pakistan?

Balochistan: A Province at the Centre of a Grand Strategy

Gwadar is the geographical and strategic centrepiece of CPEC. Its location gives Pakistan an important Arabian Sea port and gives China the possibility of developing an alternative route for trade and energy supplies. The overland connection between western China and Gwadar was envisaged as a means of reducing the distance involved in transporting energy supplies from the Gulf and, strategically, of mitigating China’s long-standing concerns over its dependence on vulnerable maritime routes such as the Malacca Strait.

But the strategic importance of Gwadar has not automatically translated into prosperity for the people living around it.For many residents, the most striking feature of CPEC has been the gap between the scale of the promises and the realities of everyday life. Roads, ports, power projects and security........

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