ISLAMABAD: Senate National Defence Committee Chairman Mushahid Hussain Sayed said on Sunday that Pakistan’s economic future lay in development of the Balochistan coast, particularly the port of Gwadar.

He urged the government to strengthen and upgrade Pakistan Navy, given its pivotal role in maritime security, development and national integration all along the 700-kilometre coastline.

He was speaking to media persons outside the Parliament House to share his experience of the first-ever visit of the parliamentary Defence Committee to the Balochistan coastal cities of Gwadar and Ormara.

Lauding the role of Pakistan Navy, Mushahid said the Navy was promoting national cohesion through its people-friendly policies and it had opened its hospitals and educational institutions to the people of Balochistan. He said in the 21st century, defence through maritime security and development through trade and economy was necessary through effective use of sea-lanes, as sea power was playing the most important role in the present times. Hence, the budget of the Pakistan Navy needed to be substantially enhanced to meet the new maritime challenges.

He said that all members of the Senate National Defence Committee were highly impressed with the role of people living in coastal areas like Gwadar and Ormara, who he said were talented, hard-working and keen on education, and despite lacking basic facilities and infrastructure, the people there had demonstrated the zeal to excel.

He urged the government to invest in the area, while welcoming the effort to revive the Gwadar Port after the commercial agreement with a Chinese company to run this deep-sea strategic port. Citing an example, he said that if there was investment in the rich fisheries sector, Pakistan’s exports could go up to $ 2 billion annually, which at present stood at a meagre $ 200 million.—INP