Pakistan, Aug. 22 -- Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir has once again placed Balochistan at the centre of the national conversation, stressing the province's permanent bond with Pakistan, the promise of its youth and the danger posed by foreign-backed militancy. The remarks become all the more important considering how Balochistan today sits at the intersection of Pakistan's hardest security challenge and some of its largest economic ambitions. The question, however, remains whether the state can convert its military resilience into political confidence and economic ownership.

That Baloch youth do not lack talent cannot be stressed enough, but neither can the fact that they lack pathways into the economy and the state. Education, technical t...