BAGH: President Dr Arif Alvi on Tuesday said that Pakistan was committed to provide moral, political and diplomatic support to the people of occupied Jammu and Kashmir and called upon the international community and international organisations to play their role in resolving the lingering dispute as per the UN Security Council resolutions as well as the aspirations of the Kashmiris.

“Pakistan has a commitment to itself that Kashmir will become [part of] Pakistan. The entire Kashmir will remain free and will become free. No Pakistani can backtrack on this commitment,” he said at the launch of the first Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK)-based private tourism airline by CareCloud MTBC - a publicly traded US healthcare information technology company that provides services to healthcare providers and hospitals throughout the US.

The company which maintains its main headquarters in Somerset, New Jersey, has corporate operational headquarters in Bagh, where it has employed 2,500 people, 20pc of them women, and branches in Rawalpindi, Karachi and Hala (Sindh).

AJK Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas, CareCloud MTBC founder and executive chairman Mahmud Haq, AJK’s senior minister Khawaja Farooq Ahmed, minister for agriculture Sardar Mir Akbar and senior government officials were also present.

Attends launch of first AJK-based private tourism airline

President Alvi pointed out that Pakistan had banked on the international community, including the United Nations, for settlement of the Kashmir issue, after the first Indian premier Jawaharlal Nehru had rushed to the world body with a plea to rescue them in the disputed Himalayan region.

“However, I should reiterate that it seems that the UN was formed only to stop wars in Europe and [afterwards] it has turned a blind eye towards whatever else is happening in other parts of the world.”

Of Kashmir Air, he said since AJK was blessed with immense natural beauty and tourism potential, the airline would help further promote tourism in the region.

“Tourism has become the mainstay of many developing economies in the world and is considered a prime source for earning foreign exchange, creating jobs, stimulating growth and reducing economic disparities,” he said.

A careful assessment of the economic, social, and environmental impacts of tourism on the region should be conducted besides establishing linkages between stakeholders, businesses, resources and tourism activities, he added.

President Alvi maintained that Pakistan possessed enormous human resources in the form of youth and women, which with relevant skills and training could become an asset to the national economy in the future.

He urged the need to provide technical and vocational skills and training to AJK’s youth in the tourism and hospitality sector to provide gainful employment to youth, particularly women, in their own region.

Earlier, AJK premier Ilyas said the main objective of his government was to facilitate the private sector to provide as many jobs as possible to the educated and skilled youth.

Mr Haq said Kashmir Air had obtained a Tourism Promotion Regional Integration (TPRI) licence and would operate as a tourism airline, bringing tourists from Islamabad and other areas to AJK.

“We would operate AW-139 helicopters from Islamabad to Bagh, Rawalakot and Muzaffarabad in the first phase,” he said, adding afterwards commercial flights between Pakistan and Gulf countries would also be started.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2022