Quetta, Aug 13 (IANS) Leading Baloch human rights defender Mir Yar Baloch on Wednesday asserted that the US President Donald Trump has committed a “strategic blunder” by assuring Pakistan access to Balochistan’s vast and untapped mineral wealth.

Mir stated that Balochistan will not allow its rare earth minerals to be exploited by Pakistan for purposes that undermine global peace and stability.

Within just 48 hours of this assurance, the human rights activist said, Pakistan’s Army Chief Asim Maulana Munir brazenly threatened to “bring down half the world with nuclear weapons” and vowed to destroy major dams inside India’s sovereign territory.

Following this, Mir pointed out that Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto, and “puppet” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif amplified this “reckless and dangerous rhetoric”.

“The world, particularly the United States, made a grave mistake in the past by overlooking Pakistan’s access to nuclear weapons, which today have become a serious threat and liability to peace across the entire region,” Mir posted on X.

“Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal is now being recklessly brandished; its Prime Minister repeatedly advocates for Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, the same Iran that openly threatens to wipe America’s ally Israel off the map, while Pakistan’s Army Chief has spoken of dragging ‘half the world down’ in nuclear destruction,” the post added.

Raising concerns, Mir said that if under President Trump’s leadership, the US grants Pakistan access to Balochistan’s vast mineral resources for its narrow interests, it would be “akin to handing a loaded gun or a razor to a monkey”, a reckless act that could bring devastation not only upon Pakistan itself but also upon the rest of the world, a danger that Army Chief Asim Munir has already signalled.

He emphasised that if Pakistani extremists are allowed to seize illegal control of Balochistan’s oil, gas, uranium, gold, silver, copper, and other rare earth resources worth trillions of dollars, the “scale of their terrorism will reach unprecedented, catastrophic proportions, threatening not only South Asia, but the stability of the entire planet.”

Stressing that the world is now confronting an unavoidable reality, Mir said trading with Pakistan, arming its terrorist military, or partnering with it in any form is not mere “recklessness”, it is an act of “global self-destruction, a gamble with global security, jeopardizing the safety and security” of all humankind.

“Being a responsible country, the Republic of Balochistan remains steadfast in its commitment to regional peace, stability, and prosperity. Its people will never allow their rare earth resources to be plundered by Pakistan’s radical army to finance nuclear blackmail, orchestrate another 9/11-style attack, or continue sheltering international terrorist networks such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda sleeper cells located deep inside Pakistan’s Punjab province,” he mentioned.

Mir called upon global powers to act decisively, working in unity to dismantle Pakistan’s double game and shut down the terror factories run by its notorious Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and its network of paid extremist proxies. He cautioned that the cost of inaction will be measured in global insecurity and the lives of countless innocents.

–IANS

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