In an open letter to US President Donald Trump, Baloch leader Mir Yar Baloch said he was General Asim Munir misled him about "massive oil reserves", which he claimed belongs to the 'Republic of Balochistan' and are not located in Pakistan.
Pointing out the the presence of vast oil and mineral reserves in Balochistan is accurate, Baloch said the Pakistani military leadership and their diplomatic channels misled the Trump administration regarding the "true geography and ownership of these critical resources". He said the Pakistan military is deliberately trying to misappropriate Balochistan's wealth for political and financial gain.
"These untapped reserves of oil, natural gas, copper, lithium, uranium and rare earth minerals are not located within the territories of Punjab which is the actual Pakistan," he wrote. He went on to claim that the Republic of Balochistan is a "historically sovereign nation currently under illegal occupation by Pakistan."
This comes after Trump announced on Wednesday that his government struck a deal with Pakistan to develop its oil reserves. "We have just concluded a Deal with the Country of Pakistan, whereby Pakistan and the United States will work together on developing their massive Oil Reserves," Trump wrote on social media. "We are in the process of choosing the Oil Company that will lead this Partnership. Who knows, maybe they’ll be selling Oil to India some day!"
When asked, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal declined to comment on the Trump's claim about India buying oil from Pakistan. "About the query of proposed oil, etc, I have no comments to offer in this particular matter," Jaisawal said.
Earlier, Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said Washington and Islamabad are "very close" to a trade deal after meeting US Foreign Secretary Marco Rubio.
Pakistan reportedly has 353,500,000 barrels of proven oil reserves, as of 2016 data. Pakistani officials in September 2024 claimed that they discovered potentially massive oil and gas reserves.
