GILGIT: Azad Jammu and Kashmir President Sardar Masood Khan on Monday said AJK leadership never opposed provision of constitutional rights to the people of Gilgit-Baltistan.

AJK leadership always demanded that GB people should be provided all rights without affecting Kashmir issue, he said.

Addressing a press conference in Gilgit on Monday during his maiden visit to the region, Masood Khan said GB and AJK people had historical relations as both the regions were integral part of the Jammu and Kashmir state and that there was no difference between GB and AJK people.

People of both the regions have struggled for their political rights and if GB people are granted AJK-style settlement there would be no opposition from AJK side, he assured. He called for strengthening the historical relationship that existed between GB and AJK.

The AJK president stressed the need for constructing Shonter Pass road in order to link AJK with GB. He said CPEC would also go a long way in connecting both the regions.

Mr Masood said that two hydropower projects, a motorway and an industrial zone were being constructed in AJK under the CPEC. Similarly, an industrial zone had been identified in GB.

The AJK president condemned Indian atrocities in Occupied Kashmir and said that people of the held territory always wanted to be part of Pakistan, but they were denied their right to self-determination.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2019