Baloch ally of Pakistan PM Imran Khan quits cabinet
Shahzain Bugti, who was serving as a special assistant to prime minister (SAPM) on harmony and reconciliation in Balochistan, has resigned and joined the Pakistan Democratic Movement, a political front opposing the Imran Khan regime
In a setback to Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan, a cabinet member belonging to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf ally Jamoori Watan Party has resigned a day before no-confidence vote.
A file photo of Baloch leader Shahzain Bugti with Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan (Dawn.com)
{{^htLoading}} {{/htLoading}}
Shahzain Bugti, who was serving as a special assistant to prime minister (SAPM) on harmony and reconciliation in Balochistan, has resigned and joined the Pakistan Democratic Movement, a political front opposing the Imran Khan regime. Shahzain Bugti is the grandson of Akbar Bugti, a prominent leader of the Baloch movement who was killed by the Pakistan Army in 2006 in Balochistan's Kohlu town.
The resignation by an ally comes moments before the crucial rally by Imran Khan in Islamabad. The rally is being seen as a show of strength by the prime minister day before the assembly takes no-confidence filed against the PTI government.
The opposition claims it has the required 172 lawmakers in the 342 member assembly to remove the government. While the opposition has decided to table the no confidence motion against Imran Khan government, the former cricketer turned politician has asked his supporters to gherao the National Assembly and not allow members to go in.
However, 50 federal ministers of Pakistan government are said to be missing, Pakistan daily Express Tribune had reported. Out of those missing Pakistan ministers, 25 were federal and provincial advisers and special assistants, while four of them are the ministers of the state, four are advisors and 19 are the special assistants.
{{^htLoading}} {{/htLoading}}
{{^usCountry}}
Khan had come to power in 2018 with the promise to create a 'Naya Pakistan' but has been facing criticism from the opposition over his failure to address the economic woes.
{{/usCountry}}
{{#usCountry}}
Khan had come to power in 2018 with the promise to create a 'Naya Pakistan' but has been facing criticism from the opposition over his failure to address the economic woes.
Shishir Gupta is Executive Editor at Hindustan Times and one of India's top journalists covering national security, strategic affairs, foreign policy and geopolitics. Over the past three decades, he has extensively reported on India's military, diplomatic and security landscape, covering every major conflict and national security challenge, from the 1999 Kargil War and the 2020 East Ladakh standoff to Operation Sindoor in 2025. He has also covered major terror attacks, including the IC-814 hijacking, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and the 2025 Pahalgam terror strike, along with numerous Pakistan-backed terrorist incidents in the Kashmir Valley and across India. He has reported on national and state elections for more than three decades. A recognised authority on strategic affairs, Gupta has covered India's nuclear programme since the Pokhran-II (Shakti series) tests in May 1998 and has written extensively on global nuclear issues, Indian diplomacy and the country's expanding global outreach. He has also reported widely on international conflicts and terrorism, with a special focus on the Indian subcontinent. Gupta has interviewed Prime Minister Narendra Modi more than four times, including Modi's first interview with the print media after becoming Prime Minister in May 2014. His other interviews include three with the Dalai Lama, as well as conversations with Benjamin Netanyahu, Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath, S. Jaishankar, Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal. He is the author of Indian Mujahideen: The Enemy Within (Hachette, 2011) and Himalayan Face-off: Chinese Assertion and Indian Riposte (Hachette, 2014). He was awarded the Chevening-Wolfson Joint Scholarship at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, UK, in 1998 and participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) of the US State Department in 2006. He received the Ben Gurion Prize from Israel in 2011 and the K. Subrahmanyam Prize for Strategic Studies in 2015 from the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA). Since 2024, he has hosted Point Blank, Hindustan Times' weekly YouTube show on global geopolitics.
Get the latest World News, breaking headlines and global updates from the US, UK, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Russia and other countries. Follow major international events on Hindustan Times.
Get the latest World News, breaking headlines and global updates from the US, UK, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Russia and other countries. Follow major international events on Hindustan Times.
Home/World News/Baloch ally of Pakistan PM Imran Khan quits cabinet
{{^htLoading}}
Advertisement
{{/htLoading}}
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
{{#usCountry}}{{/usCountry}}
Hindustantimes wants to start sending you push notifications. Click allow to subscribe
