PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur on Friday said instability in neighbouring Afghanistan continued to impact law and order in his province and termed the federal government’s response to his proposal for holding negotiations with interim set-up in Kabul as encouraging.

“For a sustainable solution, negotiations with Afghanistan are necessary,” the chief minister said in response to a question during a meeting with a delegation of the participants from the 26th National Security and War Course under the National Defence University at the Chief Minister’s House.

Mr Gandapur said the armed forces, police, and people had offered enormous sacrifices to eliminate militancy, adding: ‘we salute the martyrs who laid down their lives for peace,’ according to a statement issued from the chief minister’s secretariat.

He said KP hosted Afghan refugees for decades, but their repatriation was the federal government’s policy. However, he emphasised that the process should be carried out with dignity.

Mr Gandapur said that KP was rich in resources, but unfortunately, past governments failed to ensure their effective utilisation. “From day one, we adopted a model of economic self-reliance and invested significantly in sectors with strong potential,” he remarked.

While highlighting KP’s immense hydropower potential, he said the government was working to harness this energy for industrial development, adding a dedicated provincial transmission line was being laid to supply affordable electricity to industries, thereby creating new job opportunities.

He said that the government was also focusing on utilising the province’s oil and gas reserves for industrial growth.

The chief minister informed the visiting delegation that tourism had vast potential to increase provincial revenues. “Work is underway to develop integrated tourism zones of international standards,” he said.

Regarding the merged districts, the chief minister noted that promises made at the time of the merger with KP were not fulfilled and stressed the need for a new National Finance Commission Award to ensure the province received its due share for these districts.

He claimed 100 per cent population of the province was being provided with Sehat Card health insurance for free medical treatment.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2025