The spokesperson for the Baloch National Movement (BNM) has expressed serious concerns over the Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum (PMIF26), scheduled to take place in Islamabad on November 12–13, stating that Pakistan seeks to transform the exploitation of Balochistan’s natural resources into an international economic enterprise by involving foreign investors and multinational corporations. Held under the banners of investment and development, the forum is, in reality, an attempt to deprive the Baloch nation of its own resources and perpetuate its poverty, deprivation, and economic subjugation. We describe this as mineral colonialism, a system in which external powers reap the benefits of a region’s natural wealth while its indigenous population is subjected to exploitation and marginalisation.
The spokesperson stated that no foreign investment, mining project, or extraction of natural resources in Balochistan can be considered acceptable without the free, genuine, and collective consent of the Baloch nation. Any agreements concluded by disregarding the will and political status of the Baloch nation will remain illegitimate and unacceptable, further deepening the ongoing conflict and potentially escalating violence in the region. We urge all international mining companies, investors, and financial institutions to refrain from investing in Balochistan. Balochistan is an occupied territory and a region experiencing an ongoing conflict. Under these circumstances, the international community has a moral and political responsibility to support the Baloch nation’s right to self-determination and their struggle for freedom, rather than becoming complicit in the economic interests of an occupying state.
The spokesperson further stated that enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, unlawful arrests of political activists and leaders, fabricated criminal cases, and systematic attempts to silence political voices in Balochistan form part of a broader system aimed at suppressing the political and economic rights of the Baloch nation and maintaining control over its natural resources. For decades, the Baloch nation has struggled for its national identity, its homeland, and the right to exercise control over its resources. The continued sacrifices of Baloch men, women, and youth are a testament to the enormous human cost of this struggle. Claims of development and prosperity in Balochistan that disregard these realities are nothing more than an illusion. International companies must recognise that exploiting Balochistan’s resources without the consent of the Baloch nation risks making them complicit in a contested and exploitative enterprise.
The BNM spokesperson called upon the United Nations, international financial institutions, and the wider international community to make the free consent of the Baloch nation a fundamental condition for any project involving Balochistan’s natural resources, to take notice of human rights violations, and to respect the political and national rights of the Baloch nation. The spokesperson emphasised that Balochistan is not a mineral colony; it is the homeland of the Baloch nation. The right to decide the fate of its resources belongs to the Baloch people, not to an occupying state or its international partners. Any project imposed against the will of the Baloch nation will only perpetuate exploitation, resistance, and further instability. Genuine peace, development, and prosperity in Balochistan can only be achieved through the freedom and self-determination of the Baloch nation and its sovereign control over its own natural resources