AJK decides against presenting budget after Centre slashes grant.

MUZAFFARABAD -- An 'extraordinary meeting' of the members of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) cabinet and parliamentary secretaries on Sunday decided not to present the 2022-23 budget in the event of cuts by the government of Pakistan on the region's budgetary grants.

Presided over by Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas, the meeting was attended by 13 out of 16 ministers, three out of four advisers and special assistants, and three out of five parliamentary secretaries.

Legislative Assembly speaker Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, who has been functioning as acting president these days, was also in attendance.

The meeting constituted a 12-member committee to take the opposition within and outside the assembly on board on the issue of budget cuts.

PM Ilyas regrets budget cuts on PTI-governed Azad Kashmir, GB

Another two committees were also formed to raise voice on this issue on traditional and social media.

According to an official press release,Prime Minister Ilyas regretted that the Shehbaz Sharif-led federal government was imposing budget cuts on the territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) governed by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).

'This territory (AJK) is not only the base camp of [Kashmir's] liberation but also strategically important in view of India's aggression at the Line of Control... It cannot afford budget cuts,' he was quoted as saying at the meeting.

'We will apprise the government of Pakistan of the region's sensitive nature as well as the situation arising out of budget cuts,' he added.

Mr Haq was quoted as saying that the budgetary cuts would leave a 'negative impact' on the region.

According to the press release, the ministers maintained that Kashmiris had already been rendering sacrifices for Pakistan and 'if Pakistan was still in need of...

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