Pakistan to continue taking steps for Gilgit-Baltistan’s progress, prosperity: PM

Liaquat Ali

Islamabad: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Wednesday said the government of Pakistan would continue to play its role in ensuring the progress, peace, and prosperity of Gilgit-Baltistan. In his message on the 76th anniversary of the freedom of Gilgit-Baltistan from the Dogra rule, he said mainstreaming the youth of the GB was a priority for Pakistan.

Kakar said GB was rich in minerals and natural resources and offered huge potential to become a hub of economic growth and tourism. He stressed the need for unity, religious harmony, and mutual affinity to ensure a prosperous and bright future for Pakistan including Gilgit Baltistan.

He felicitated the people of GB and said the day was significant in history when the brave people of Gilgit Baltistan under the leadership of Captain Mirza Hassan Khan and Subedar Major Babar resisted the Dogra rule. Their courage forced the puppet governor Ghasara Singh to surrender before the will of the local people for their accession with Pakistan on November 1, 1947, he said. Kakar said Pakistan deeply values the patriotism of the people of GB who proved their unconditional and selfless love for Pakistan.

These brave people showed the enemy that GB was part of Pakistan and would remain forever, he added. He said the people of GB were fortunate to be blessed with freedom, while the Muslims in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) still suffered the tyranny of Indian authorities.

He mentioned several resolutions were passed by the United Nations for the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir issue, which he said faced the status quo due to the unwillingness of India and the apathy of the international community. PM Kakar reiterated Pakistan’s solidarity with the oppressed people of IIOJK and vowed to continue its political, diplomatic, and moral to Kashmiris till they get their right to self-determination in accordance with the resolutions of the UN Security Council.

He said Pakistan wanted a peaceful resolution of both the Palestine conflict and the Jammu and Kashmir dispute and strongly condemned Israel’s unabated violence at the land of the first Qibla for Muslims.