Chapter 1137: Poor mountain and bad water

Balochistan Province, located in the southwest of Pakistan Railway, covers an area of ​​about 340,000 square kilometers, accounting for 43.6% of the total land area of ​​Pakistan Railway. It is the largest province in the country, but it is also the province with the sparsest population. The population of 7 million is only 5% of the total population of the country.
Many areas with a large area but a small population have a common feature-poverty. In fact, Balochistan is the poorest province in Pakistan. The province’s economy mainly relies on agriculture and animal husbandry, and the total economic volume only accounts for 3.5% of Pakistan's total economic output.
Pakistan Railway is already a poor country. In the past 1986, if ranked by per capita GDP, Pakistan Railway with a per capita GDP of just over US$400 could only be ranked 111th on this blue star, in order to add a comparison target. In order for the students to understand, on this ranking table, Mozambique from Black Africa is ranked first in front of the Pakistan Railway...
The poor among the poor, the state of finance, infrastructure, education, health, and health in Balochistan can be imagined.
The dilemma of fiscal revenue has led to a very low level of social development in Balcony. The most troublesome thing is probably the province’s education status-the province’s primary education enrollment rate does not exceed 40%, in other words, more than half of the The population is illiterate.
However, the poor return to the poor. The geographical location of Balochistan is extremely important. The province borders Afkhan to the north, Iperos to the west, and the Arabian Sea to the south. It has a coastline of 1,100 kilometers and the Gwadar region is even more capable of building a natural harbor. Potential conditions are the only way from East Asia to West Asia.
But Mahmoud knew that the reason for Tan Zhenhua's hesitation is that these are still secondary factors. The most important reason is that Balochistan is still the most unstable area of ​​Pakistan.
As the saying goes, "Poor mountains and evil waters...what a thing."
Balochistan Province is located on the eastern edge of the Iperos Plateau. Its terrain is dominated by mountains, with high mountains and deep valleys, lack of water resources, and almost primitive infrastructure such as road traffic, but the ethnic conflicts are extremely acute-among the total population of the province About 44% are Pashtuns, 43% are Baluchis, and 13% are Punjabi and other ethnic minorities. However, the majority of positions and voice in the Pakistani government are the proportion of the population. The least Punjabi.
During the Indian-Pakistani division system in 1947, Karat, which had a de facto dominance in Balochistan at that time, refused to join the Pakistan Railway and announced the establishment of the so-called "Independent State of Balochistan." This secession was taken for granted. Suppression, however, a temporary riot can be suppressed by the army, but the seeds of ethnic division and mutual hatred cannot be completely stifled.
Unlike the neutral and relatively moderate Pashtuns, another local tribe is not so secure. Some Baluchis believe that their ethnic group has no place in the military, government, and economic spheres, and is under "Punjabi rule". Discrimination by the Federal Government of Pakistan and Railway, which required a high degree of autonomy, and launched various activities against the authorities.
These activities reached a climax in 1973-this year, some Baluchistan tribes in the province united to launch an armed riot. The total number of armed tribes involved in the riot reached more than 50,000. At the time, the Prime Minister of Pakistan Ali. Bhutto had to mobilize 100,000 troops to fight the violence, and the two sides fought fiercely for more than three years. It was not until 1976 that the riot was gradually subsided.
But this quelling is only on the surface. The tribal armed forces are just being afraid of the powerful force of the government forces to turn the resistance movement from the ground to the underground. Everyone can imagine the next situation-the tribal armed forces began to turn into guerrilla warfare. As a result of the asymmetrical resistance, Balochistan has fallen into turmoil and danger, and has gradually become a breeding ground for terrorism.
Until 1977, Zia. When President Huck came to power, he adopted a series of pacifying policies for Baluchis and announced the implementation of amnesty. After the increase in development costs, the contradiction was eased. However, the implementation of these relatively moderate policies can hardly be said to have solved the problem fundamentally. The radical Baloch still insists on uncompromising, and the province’s complex terrain and poor traffic and communication conditions have greatly increased the difficulty of the government’s control of remote tribal mountain villages, and tensions along the border between Pakistan and India. It also makes it difficult for the Pakistani government and the army to concentrate their main forces within Balochistan. Therefore, the seemingly easing situation in the province has been undercurrents.
And Mahamud also knew that in these undercurrents, there might be the dark hands of Soviet Russians and Indians, and even the Americans who are currently standing in the same trench with Pakistani Tie are unclean.
There is a set of figures that can prove this point from the side: according to the statistics of the United Nations Drug Administration, in 1984, due to Zia. President Huck promulgated martial law and adopted iron tactics to reduce the production of opium on the Pakistani railway side of the "Golden Crescent" area, which is the border area of ​​Balochistan, from 800 tons in 1978 to 45 tons, but only Two years later, in 1986, this number suddenly rose to 145 tons!
Although Mahmoud had never served in an intelligence agency, he knew very well where the opium planted in the "Golden Crescent" area where the three countries of Afkhan, Ipersia, and Pakistani Railway came from. Where to go!
Such a region, no matter from any angle, is obviously not a good place for investment.
"On the surface, the main role of the port is to provide services such as the berthing and maintenance of ships, the loading, unloading and transshipment of goods, but in fact, in order for an area to become a good port, in addition to hydrological and geographical conditions, it also needs developed transportation facilities. Otherwise, how can we ensure that the cargo it handles can be transshipped in a timely manner?
Seeing Mahmoud’s silence, Tan Zhenhua started talking:
Although Gwadar has the hydrological conditions to become a deep-water port, other There are almost no supporting facilities, and the surrounding public security environment is not good. Therefore, unless you can make great efforts to clean up the security of the Gwadar area and can ensure the safety of a transportation and logistics route for a long time, investment in the area can be put on the agenda. Agenda, Lao Ma, in business, this is a question that I must consider from the perspective of an investor. After all, the amount of this investment may be as high as billions of dollars. I think any prudent investor will be like me. Consider these issues equally."
Mahmoud remained silent for a long time before he sighed: "Eric, I understand what you said, but you also know our economic situation in Pakistan. It was originally very difficult. The border situation in China has forced us to spend a lot of money on military expenses. So although your Flying Leopard fighter is very good, we may not be able to buy it in a short time. As for the plan of Gwadar Port, since it is me who loses , Then I don’t have the right to ask you to cash out your bet—Eric, I’m sorry, this time you’re probably going home empty-handed.

"No, Ma, I have actually got what I want, and you don’t have to be too disappointed. Please tell Mr. Zia. Haque, although the time to launch the Gwadar Port project is not yet ripe, it will not be too soon. In the future, we may usher in a major, turning-point historical opportunity, so we might as well start negotiations and make plans now. Opportunities are always reserved for those who are prepared, right?"