ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz on Monday said the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) would emerge as an economic ‘base camp’ of the country in the coming days due to its strategic location on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) route.

Addressing a news conference along with Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, he said the Federal Government had doubled the development budget of GB and taken all possible measures for its uplift despite financial constraints caused by the novel coronavirus.

During the last two years, he said, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government never attempted to destabilize the governments in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and the GB as it fully believed in promoting democratic norms in the country.

The minister said all the governments, who came to the power with public mandate, should be given an opportunity to complete tenures.

The representatives of Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen, who announced to join the PTI for the upcoming election in GB, were also present at the press conference.