QUETTA, Feb 18: Governor of Balochistan Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi has said that rights and interests of the people of the province must be protected in any agreement with foreign companies and countries for exploration and development of natural resources.

In a statement on the handing over of Gwadar Port to a Chinese firm, he said it should be ensured that the first to benefit from exploitation of natural resources by foreign companies would be the people of Balochistan who were owners of the resources.

Nawab Magsi welcomed the signing of the agreement with China for the port and said it would create employment opportunities for local people. Besides, the country and the province will benefit from the infrastructure to be raised for the port.

“It is necessary to protect rights of the local people while developing resources to remove the sense of deprivation prevailing among the people and their reservations over exploitation of natural resources,” the governor said.

If the people benefited from the port, he said, they would participate in the process of development of Balochistan and it would cast a positive impact on the overall situation in the province.

He recalled that agreements contrary to the aspirations of the people reached in the past had created an unpleasant situation. He said a lesson should be learnt from the past to ensure success of the agreement with China.

“Balochistan can no longer afford bitter experiences,” he warned.

He said the country’s future depended on Balochistan’s progress because its resources were backbone of the national economy.