Two days after New Delhi dismissed next week's elections in Gilgit-Baltistan as Islamabad's "attempt to camouflage its forcible and illegal occupation of the region", Pakistan's cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan on Thursday vowed to grant more regional autonomy to the region.
"The development work that should have been done by the government was instead materialised by Agha Khan," the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) party chief said, pledging that he would make the region more independent, Geo News reported.
"Time will come when people will long for getting employment opportunities in Hunza," Imran Khan said.
Criticising his political opponents, Imran Khan said the PTI would put an end to the partnership of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Zardari which, he said, was only meant to take turns in government.