Balochistan - Modern Balochistan

Modern Balochistan

Currently the greater Balochistan region is divided among three countries: Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. The Pakistani portion of Balochistan has Quetta as its capital city. Other major cities include Gwadar, Turbat, Khuzdar and Kalat. Although Baloch nationalists have never accepted Balochistan as a part of any of the three countries, Pakistan and Iran insist on sovereignty over their parts of Balochistan. Several nationalist movements have developed in the past sixty years, but have been forcibly repressed by the Pakistani and Iranian regimes.

Modern Balochistan has very few sources of income for the native Baloch people, despite the region being rich in minerals. The main ways Balochis survive in Balochistan are through Government services, raising livestock and smuggling. Agriculture is mostly sparse and is only present in the Khachi region of Balochistan.

Although Baloch people are mostly secular in nature, the invasive influence of foreign intelligence agencies in Balochistan and Muslim extremist religious parties in the region are propagating Islamic extremism in Baloch societies. The spread of Talibanism is also a constant threat to Balochistan and its cultural values. In the past sixty years, Balochis have persistently rejected extremism in the region.