BIG trouble for Pakistan amid tensions with India, Balochistan may become a separate country soon if…

Balochistan Independence: The Balochistan independence movement gained momentum amid the recent India-Pakistan tensions, with Islamabad facing a major internal setback with Baloch leaders serving an ultimatum to the Pakistani government, demanding a separate Baloch nation and independence from the country.

On Wednesday, Baloch leader Mir Yar Baloch declaring Balochistan as an independent, sovereign nation, as he urged world nations, including India, to recognize its newly-declared sovereign status. But is a simple declaration of independence enough to make a region a sovereign entity, and separate it from its parent country?

Here’s what Balochistan needs to do to become an independent nation:

How Balochistan can become a sovereign nation?

While declaring independence from a country certainty makes a statement and puts the demands of rebels on the global stage, its does not however in any way, shape or form mean that the region is now a sovereign state. According to the United Nations Charter, any newly-formed country must undergo a process to gain international recognition.

First, any region seeking separation from its parent country must file an application for the same with the UN Secretary General, who then forwards this proposal to the UN Security Council, where at least nine out of the 15 member must vote in favor. However, even if the proposal is passed a majority, any of the five UNSC members– United States, Russia, China, UK, and France– can reject it using their veto powers.

In the rare case that such a proposal passes the UN Security Council, its must then be passed by a two-thirds majority in the UN General Assembly. If all these conditions are met, the region is declared a sovereign state by the United Nations, but countries are still free to choose whether to recognize the newly-formed country or not.

Baloch rebel leader Mir Yar Baloch has called upon the UN to send its peacekeeping force to the region, as he unilaterally declared Balochistan as a independent nation earlier this week. However, the fact remains that without global support and UN recognition, Balochistan cannot separate from Pakistan.

Why Pakistan won’t let go of Balochistan?

There are several fairly recent examples of disgruntled regions declaring independence from their parent countries, such as Kosovo and Somaliland. But both of these instances have proven that simply declaring independence is not enough as it requires UN recognition. The US and Europe have recognised Kosovo as a separate nation, but the UN has not granted it recognition. Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia in 1991, has not been recognised by the UN or any country.

According to experts, the case of Balochistan independence is far more complicated compared to Kosovo or Somaliland, as the region accounts for almost 44 percent of the total land area of Pakistan, and it is highly unlikely that Islamabad will ever allow it to separate, because it essentially means giving up around half of the country.

Balochistan declares independence from Pakistan

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Mir Yar Baloch, declared Balochistan as a separate nation, citing decades of military oppression, enforced disappearances, and human rights violations by the Pakistani armed forces, as the reason behind the region wanting to separate from Pakistan,

In a series of posts on X, the Baloch nationalist leader urged the Narendra Modi-led Indian government to grant permission for establishing a “Baloch embassy”, as he called upon the UN to deploy peacekeeping forces in Balochistan and demanded an immediate withdrawal of the Pakistani Army from the region.

New Delhi has not issued a response to Baloch’s demands.

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