MUZAFFARABAD: President Sardar Masood Khan and Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) spent a little over Rs30 million on their foreign tours in the two previous fiscal years to highlight Kashmir issue, AJK Legislative Assembly was informed on Thursday.

The expenditures were made by them from the budget of their respective secretariats for 2016-17 and 2017-18 as well as from the funds of Kashmir Liberation Cell (KLC) - an institution raised in late eighties to “highlightKashmirissue at national and international level.”

The information was shared by the government in response to a question by independent MLA Mian Mohammad Yasir Rashid.

The house was told that President Khan spent Rs3.64 million from the budget of his secretariat and Rs1.55 million from KLC funds on three tours to US, Belgium and Norway in 2016-17.

In the following year, he spent Rs4.98 million on three tours to Germany, Belgium, Spain, UK and US from the budget of his secretariat and Rs7.86 million on seven tours to US, UK, Canada, Denmark and Austria from the KLC funds.

A three-page report was also tabled in the house about the activities of the president during the tours which it said were undertaken “in line with President Khan’s six-point agenda that included a robust political and diplomatic campaign for early settlement of Kashmir dispute.”

It said, “In the past two years, the president has reached out and spoken to more than 200 parliamentarians through several events organised at the British, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian parliaments, has visited foreign universities, think-tanks, media houses and diaspora to plead the case of oppressed Kashmiri nation,” the report added.

Regarding the visits of the prime minister, the house was told that Rs12.338 million were spent on his five trips to Belgium, UK, Ivory Coast, France, Italy etc.,in 2016-17 and 2017-18, and the amount was drawn from the budget of PM secretariat for foreign tours and KLC funds.

However, unlike the reply about the president’s tours, there was no breakup of expenses made by the prime minister on each tour.

The reply said that these tours were made to “draw attention of the international community towards the situation in India occupied Kashmir as well as along the Line of Control and hold interactive sessions with Kashmiri and Pakistani expatriates.”

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2019