DAMMAM, April 8: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Mohammad Yaqoob Khan disclosed on Monday that there were forces in Pakistan and abroad striving to get the general elections deferred.

Addressing a gathering of Pakistani expatriates over a lunch, the AJK leader emphasised that every effort should be made to ensure that elections were held as scheduled, adding that polls were required for the country’s growth and prosperity.

Sardar Yaqoob, who himself once worked in Dammam, said development work in Azad Kashmir was going on a fast pace and in a decade or so it would be ranked among the developed countries of the region such as Turkey and Malaysia.

He said several small hydel power projects were in progress in various parts of Azad Kashmir and the region would get rid of loadshedding within a year. Azad Kashmir, he said, supplied some 2,500MW of electricity to Pakistan.

Sardar Yaqoob said Azad Kashmir was in need of modern tourism infrastructure and invited the overseas Pakistanis to make investment in the tourism sector.