The PTI government, from the beginning, believes that Pakistan can not prosper and grow without equitable development, Prime Minister Imran Khan said Wednesday.

At the inauguration ceremony of Balochistan’s Jhal Jao-Bela Road in Islamabad, he said that the Centre’s policy is to uplift areas that were ignored and left behind by the previous governments.

“Why isn’t Balochistan developed today? Because previous rulers wanted to win elections instead of working for the people. So they used the money that should have been spent in Balochistan for Punjab,” the premier said.

“If we want to develop Pakistan, we need to uplift all areas equally. We need to prioritise those cities that were left behind.”

The PM pointed out that Balochistan, which is on the country’s 40% land, is deprived of basic infrastructure such as roads.

“Back when the Karakoram Highway wasn’t constructed, areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan were in a similar state. But today, tourism up north has increased to an extent that there’s no space in hotels.”

In another similar example, he said that Sindh’s population is 22% [of the entire country’s population] but it was given 34% of the total Ehsaas Programme funds because poverty in the province was high.

The prime minister stressed long-term planning for the development of Pakistan. “Why is China the superpower today? Because it has plans prepared for 10 to 20 years.”

The leader in Balochistan, too, should focus on growth for the entire province instead of just their constituencies, he added.