I INVITE Prime Minister Imran Khan’s attention to the vital Skardu-Kargil road that has remained closed since 1948, thus severing the links of thousands of families numbering more than a million people on both sides of the border.

The people of Baltistan have requested the government of Pakistan scores of times to open this road, but their requests have gone unheard.

Needless to say that people of Gilgit-Baltistan are as patriotic as any other region of the country. History is witness that whenever the motherland demanded sacrifices, the people of GB were in the first ranks to lay down their lives.

The people of GB therefore request the prime minister to order the opening of this road at the earliest.

This will not only help them meet the members of divided families, but open new trade and economic opportunities for the people in both regions. It will also prove a corner stone to boost tourism.

Ghulam Muhammad Balti
Skardu

Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2019