Pakistan, June 17 -- Balochistan is Pakistan's largest and most resource-rich province, yet it is most politically fragile. It stretches across nearly half the country's landmass and hosts reserves of natural gas, coal, copper, and gold. However, its human development indices remain among the lowest nationwide. For decades, its people have lived in the tension between marginalization and militancy, between national loyalty and unfulfilled autonomy.

It is this contradiction of potential trapped in neglect that makes Balochistan vulnerable. Not only to internal unrest, but to external exploitation by actors who view the province not as a home to millions of citizens, but as a pressure point in their geopolitical chess game.

On June 12, 20...