The debate over Pakistan’s spatial priorities was laid bare when the Sindh government formally registered its objection during an Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) meeting over the approval of the multi-billion-rupee Lahore–Sahiwal–Bahawalnagar motorway. The core of the dissent was as straightforward as it was unassailable: how could the federal government sanction yet another regional motorway in Punjab with an escalated price tag exceeding Rs 430 billion, while the 306-kilometre Hyderabad–Sukkur Motorway (M-6), the critical missing link in the country’s primary north–south trade corridor remains stalled for years under the perpetual excuse of fiscal scarcity? This objection was not merely a dispute over provincial allocations; it brought to light a fundamental, unresolved question in Pakistan’s development history: why did a nation whose entire economic survival depends on its southern coastline fail to build a continuous, high-grade motorway network connecting its maritime ports to the rest of the country?  

When Pakistan’s motorway grid is viewed on a map, the distortion is unmistakable. An extensive, high-speed motorway network spans Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, linking Peshawar to Islamabad, Lahore to Abdul Hakeem and Multan, and extending southward to Sukkur via the 392-kilometre M-5. Yet the moment this arterial corridor reaches Sindh, the continuous transit spine abruptly breaks. While Karachi is linked to Hyderabad via the M-9, the 306-kilometre Hyderabad–Sukkur link remains unfinished. The national north–south motorway was successfully delivered across the north and centre, leaving a gaping transit void inside Sindh........

© The Friday Times