Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Hafiz Hafeezur Rehman on Tuesday said that the region is not part of Jammu & Kashmir but it is a part of the lingering dispute.

“Gilgit-Baltistan is not part of Kashmir but it is part of the Kashmir conundrum. Granting maximum rights to the region and Azad Jammu Kashmir will be beneficial for the issue. The resolution for making GB a fifth province has been adopted in the local assembly with majority vote and I also back it,” he said in an exclusive interview with Daily Times.

“Two projects, including a 400 kilometre road and 180 megawatt power house will be constructed in Gilgit-Baltistan under CPEC,” he said. “When we came to power then police had only one bulletproof jacket and no armoured personnel carrier was available for them. Even a thing like CCTV camera was not installed in any part of the province. Due to this, crimes were committed and no evidence became available about those crimes,” he said.

“We placed our focus on two to three things soon after coming to power.” He stated, “I spent Rs. 700 million on the police and provided them state-of-the-art equipment. There are 3 cities which are called safe cities in Pakistan and GB has one among them,” he underlined.

Recruitments in police have been made without religious discrimination, he said, adding that not a single terror incident had taken place in the province for the last one and half years.

As many as one million tourists had visited Gilgit-Baltistan last year due to peace and tranquility, Hafeezur Rehman pointed out.

“We will soon find a solution to give representation and concessions to GB at par with other provinces. GB should be given as much power as the other provinces wield.”

He further stated a summary would be forwarded to the federal government through the Kashmir Affairs Ministry within two months and later would be sent to a joint parliamentary session after it is approved by the government. The matter of giving Gilgit-Baltistan representation in the National Assembly and Senate would be put to debate there. Following the completion of this process, the people of the region would get representation in the Senate and National Assembly.

The Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan said as per the constitution, the Kashmir issue is affected if Article 1 is amended. He observed that the Kashmir issue has three units. One map has been agreed upon by combining Azad Kashmir, the Indian-held Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan, he added. China has never said anything with reference to the region so far. A border settlement was made during Ayub Khan’s regime, he added, “Certain areas had gone to them and some areas had come to us. It is mentioned in this settlement if the decision of the Kashmir issue comes wrong through plebiscite, then talks will be held afresh.”

“When we came to power, power production in GB was 84 megawatts while its demand was 350 megawatts. We augmented electricity production by 47 megawatts through different projects”. Two power projects with a capacity of 180 megawatts would be set up under the CPEC, he pointed out. Additionally, the Chief Minister stated that the 400-kilometre Chandra road from Gilgit-Baltistan to Chitral has been approved.