Baloch human rights activist welcomes PM Modi's I-Day address on critical minerals

Quetta, Aug 15 (IANS) Leading Baloch human rights defender Mir Yar Baloch on Friday appreciated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement regarding the exploration of India's critical minerals under the National Critical Minerals Mission (NCMM) delivered during his address to the nation from the Red Fort on the occasion of the country’s 79th Independence Day.

PM Modi announced on Friday that the country is intensifying its efforts to achieve self-sufficiency in critical minerals, with exploration activities currently underway at over 1,200 locations nationwide.

Mir asserted that by making Pakistan irrelevant, Balochistan and India can be long-term partners in the economy, defence, security, and peace.

“The people of Balochistan consider availing India's cutting-edge technology and expertise in exploring trillions of dollars’ worth of critical minerals in Balochistan, which can also help strengthen the defence of both India and Balochistan. India can become a long-term and reliable partner of Balochistan in the fields of defence and economy,” the human rights activist posted on X.

“Balochistan's ocean and surface has such an abundance of critical minerals that their discovery will not require any significant investment or cost, it is simply a matter of starting the extraction process. This work can be accomplished within five to ten years, meaning the destiny of this region can be transformed within the next decade if the process begins today,” the post added.

On behalf of the sixty million Baloch people, Mir extended heartfelt wishes to the 1.4 billion people of India as the country celebrated Independence Day.

“We share in your joy as if it were our own, because your victory against colonialism is a chapter that inspires our own struggle for freedom,” the human rights activist stated

Lauding the courageous and self-respecting people of India who refused to bow to British slavery, offering countless lives in sacrifice, Mir recalled that the people of Balochistan, too, paid an immense price in blood and treasure to break the chains of imperialism.

He emphasised that neither India nor Balochistan was gifted freedom but it was earned with the sweat and blood of its ancestors, adding that Baloch forefathers secured an “independent Balochistan on August 11, 1947”. A few days later, on August 15, the human rights activist said India’s leaders declared the dawn of free India after enduring the agony of partition.

“Today, as India celebrates its freedom, the people of Balochistan stand shoulder to shoulder with you. We send our deepest thanks and appreciations to your patriotic mainstream and social media, your both of the parliaments, fearless journalists, your visionary thinkers, your civil society, your doctors, farmers, business community, armed forces, scientists, teachers, students, people of every faith, our beloved mothers and sisters, and every Indian from every walk of life who has carried the message of Balochistan into every home across India,” he said expressing gratitude to Indian people from all walks of life.

Mir called upon the Government of India to stand with Balochistan in “real and tangible ways” so that, together, both can “crush any conspiracy against the two nations” and answer Pakistan’s vile terrorism with the same determination India showed in Operation Sindoor, a blow so powerful that the “wails of the Pakistani army and their terrorists still echo to the highest heavens”.

--IANS

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