SKARDU: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Saturday said the federal government allocated a record share in the budget 2021-22 for the development of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) as Prime Minister Imran Khan desires its uplift on a par with other parts of the country.Addressing a news conference at the Skardu Press Club, he said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), soon after coming into power in GB, announced a development package worth Rs 300 billion for the socio-economic development of the area. The amount, which would be spent in the next five years, would bring significant improvement in the infrastructure of GB and boost economic activities through tourism promotion.
He regretted the dilapidated condition of the road infrastructure in GB and lashed out at the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) for doing nothing for its rehabilitation despite being in power for a long period.
Fawad said he had been told by the political and civil administrations of GB including the chief minister and commissioners that the services of professional town planners have been hired to formulate master plans for all GB districts including Skardu, Shigar and Gilgit.
He said the situation in the GB would look like Karachi in the next eight to ten years if the development work is carried out without proper planning. He said the completion of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would mark a new era of development in GB as it is situated at a critical route of the multi-billion dollars project.
He said Indians have a track record of hatching conspiracies against the area, adding that it is the people of GB who always stood by Pakistan.
He said the whole nation and people of GB are condemning the illegal and unilateral actions of the Indian government in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K). He said Pakistan ended trade relations with India to give a message to the people of Kashmir that the Pakistani nation stands by them. He said Pakistan ended an agreement with India to telecast Pakistan and England cricket matches. He said the government of Pakistan has decided to give interim province status to GB as work on its legislation is being carried out on a fast-track basis.
The minister also shed light on Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan’s peace process and said Pakistan played a key role and tried its best so that the issues related to Afghanistan could be solved amicably.
To a question he said, the courts had convicted Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz in two corruption cases while proceedings in the Shehbaz case are in progress. He said the government has demanded a day-to-day hearing in the Shehbaz case. He said the court had given the decision in the Nawaz case, and he fled aboard. It is a desire of the PTI government that the accountability process reach its logical conclusion, he added.
Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar has said that in the light of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s instructions, the government is working for the development of Gilgit-Baltistan on a priority bases.
He said the development package included in the PSDP envisaged hydel power generation and transmission projects, connectivity projects for tourism, youth skill and scholarship programme, upgrading of health system and water and sanitation projects.
Addressing a press conference in Gilgit on Saturday, he said the message of Prime Minister Imran Khan to the people of Gilgit-Baltistan is that if Gilgit-Baltistan develops in the true sense, the whole of Pakistan would be prosperous.
