Abdul Qadir Baloch

Abdul Qadir Baloch (Urdu: عبد القادر بلوچ‎; born 9 April 1945) is a Pakistani politician and retired army general who served as Minister for States and Frontier Regions in the third Sharif ministry from 2013 to 2017 and in Abbasi cabinet from August 2017 to May 2018. A leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), Baloch briefly served as the Governor of Balochistan during Pervez Musharraf rule in 2003[2]

Abdul Qadir Baloch
Minister for States and Frontier Regions
In office 4 August 2017 – 31 May 2018
President	Mamnoon Hussain
Prime Minister	Shahid Khaqan Abbasi
Succeeded by	Roshan Khursheed Bharucha
In office 7 June 2013 – 28 July 2017
President	Mamnoon Hussain
Prime Minister	Nawaz Sharif
Preceded by	Najmuddin Khan
Governor of Balochistan
In office 1 February 2003 – 11 August 2003
Preceded by	Amir-ul-Mulk Mengal
Succeeded by	Owais Ahmed Ghani
Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan
In office 17 March 2008 – 31 May 2018
Personal details
Born	April 9, 1945[1] Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan
Nationality	Pakistani
Political party	Pakistan Muslim League (N) (2010-Present)
Alma mater	Pakistan Military Academy PMALC Command and Staff College National Defence University
Civilian awards	Tamgha-i-Imtiaz
Military service
Allegiance	Pakistan
Branch/service	Pakistan Army
Years of service	1966–2003
Rank	Lieutenant-General
Unit	16 Baloch Regiment
Commands	XXX Corps XII Corps 19th Infantry Division
Battles/wars	1971 war Kargil War 2001 India-Pakistan standoff War on Terror
Military awards	Sitara-i-Jurat Hilal-i-Jurat

Baloch had been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from 2008 to May 2018.

Early life

He was born on 9 April 1945.[1]

Military career

Baloch was appointed as field operations commander of the XXX Corps where he oversaw the redeployment of the military troops near border with India.[3] In the wake of the 9/11 attacks in the United States, Baloch was assigned as field operations commander of the XII Corps which had the area of responsibility of the Balochistan.[3]

Political career

In 2001, Baloch was appointed as Martial Law Administrator of Balochistan. In 2003, he received honorable discharge from the army and prematurely retired from the military as corps commander of Quetta to be appointed as Governor of Balochistan.[2]

In 2008 Pakistani general election, Baloch elected as member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from constituency NA-271.[2] In 2010, he joined the Pakistan Muslim League (N).[4] In August 2011, Baloch was selected by PML(N) as the assistant secretaries-general of the PML-N for Balochistan.[2]

In 2013, the PML(N) allotted a party ticket to Baloch for the constituency NA-271 to participate in general elections. Baloch performed well in the election and defeated Ahsanullah Raki of PPP. Later, he was appointed as Minister for States and Frontier Regions by the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and took oath on 8 June 2013.[5]

He had ceased to hold ministerial office in July 2017 when the federal cabinet was disbanded following the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after Panama Papers case decision.[6] Following the election of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as Prime Minister of Pakistan, Baloch was inducted into the federal cabinet of Abbasi and was appointed Minister for States and Frontier Regions for the second time.[7][8] Upon the dissolution of the National Assembly on the expiration of its term on 31 May 2018, Baloch ceased to hold the office as Federal Minister for States and Frontier Regions.[9]

On 31 October, 2020, Baloch decided to resign from the PMLN due to differences with the party's chief Nawaz Sharif and the party's decision not to invite former Balochistan Chief Minister Sardar Sanaullah Zehri,also a leader of the PMLN, to a public gathering of the Pakistan Democratic Movement. The reason the PMLN leadership cited for not inviting Zehri was his tribal differences with Sardar Akhtar Mengal of the Balochistan National Party. Ihsan Iqbal, a senior leader of the PMLN, said Mr. Baloch had the choice to resign if he wished to do so.[10]

Following his resignation, he stated that he could not hold long with the anti- military narrative of the party.

References

1. "Detail Information". 19 April 2014. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 11 July 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
2. Newspaper, From the (6 August 2011). "Two ex-generals picked for key PML-N positions". Dawn. Archived from the original on 13 October 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
3. Swami, Parveen (27 November 2013). "Troubled history hangs over Pakistan's new army chief". The hindu, 2013. The HIndu. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
4. Dawn.com (6 June 2010). "Sanaullah Zehri, Qadir Baloch join PML-N". Dawn newspaper, 2010. Dawn newspaper. Archived from the original on 15 October 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
5. Hussain, Tayyab (8 June 2013). "25-member cabinet takes oath". Pakistan Today. Pakistan Today. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
6. "PM Nawaz Sharif steps down; federal cabinet stands dissolved". Daily Pakistan Global. Archived from the original on 28 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
7. "New cabinet takes oath: Khawaja Asif foreign minister, Ahsan Iqbal interior minister". DAWN.COM. 4 August 2017. Archived from the original on 4 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
8. "Pakistan Swears In New Federal Cabinet". Newsweek Pakistan. 4 August 2017. Archived from the original on 4 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
9. "Notification" (PDF). Cabinet division. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 June 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
10. "PML-N leader Abdul Qadir Baloch decides to resign from party". The Express Tribune. 2020-10-31. Retrieved 2020-10-31.