Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Monday that the development of the Gwadar port would benefit the entire country, particularly Balochistan, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Speaking in Gwadar at the launch of various development projects, he said the federal government had announced a development package worth Rs730 billion for Balochistan.

The prime minister told the gathering that mere announcement of the projects was not enough as the government would also monitor progress on these projects. “Now the projects, which come under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), will be monitored directly from the Prime Minister’s Office,” he informed.

“Pakistan is now going to become the world’s greatest country,” he said, and added, “It is sad that the country, which was developing at a rapid pace in the 60s, is now economically weak.”

He said work on water, gas and electricity projects in the coastal city of Balochistan was going on at a fast pace. “Gwadar is soon going to have an international airport of its own,” he said.

He said it would be the government’s endeavor to develop underprivileged areas of the country like south Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

The prime minister said it was for the first time that the government was connecting those parts of Balochistan which were miles apart.

He further said the government would build universities in the province, provide loans to the poor, give technical training to the youth and also distribute health cards.

PM Imran said that the federal maritime ministry had worked out a plan for the betterment of Balochistan’s fishermen.

“We will provide incentives to those wishing to invest in Balochistan so that it could be brought at par with other provinces,” he assured.

PM Imran regretted that not much attention was paid to boosting exports due to which the country had to rely on international monetary organizations such as the World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

He said that it was Pakistan’s desire that there should be peace in the region. “We will talk to Taliban to prefer political settlement to violence in Afghanistan,” he said, and added, “This is because we are afraid the present situation may turn into a full-fledged civil war.”