PM Assures Gilgit-Baltistan CM Full Wheat Quota Restoration

Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Amjad Hussain met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad to discuss the region’s financial challenges and development priorities, with wheat subsidy restoration and energy funding emerging as the meeting’s central outcomes.

Hussain briefed the prime minister on budget deficits affecting the pace of development work, requesting special federal support to keep ongoing projects on schedule.

Energy featured as the chief minister’s top priority. Hussain asked for timely fund disbursement for ongoing energy projects specifically to address the region’s persistent electricity shortages — a request that reflects a recurring structural problem in Gilgit-Baltistan, where hydropower potential remains significant but underdeveloped relative to the region’s needs, leaving residents exposed to recurring power shortfalls despite the area’s natural generation capacity.

The wheat subsidy issue drew a concrete commitment from the prime minister. Hussain raised concerns over reductions in Gilgit-Baltistan’s wheat subsidy allocation, prompting Sharif to assure restoration of the region’s full wheat quota, while committing to address remaining financial needs at a later stage. Wheat subsidies carry particular weight in Gilgit-Baltistan given the region’s limited arable land and reliance on subsidized flour supplies to keep food costs manageable in a mountainous terrain where local wheat cultivation can’t meet population needs.

Beyond the two headline commitments, Hussain requested federal support for expanding internet bandwidth, developing tourism infrastructure, and building an airport in Gilgit capable of handling Boeing aircraft — infrastructure gaps that have long constrained the region’s tourism and trade potential given its remote location and current reliance on smaller aircraft with more limited, weather-dependent scheduling. A Boeing-capable airport would represent a meaningful upgrade to regional connectivity, potentially opening Gilgit-Baltistan’s tourism sector to larger-scale commercial travel.

The meeting also covered employment strategy for the region’s youth, including technical training, business development support, and sustainable economic opportunity programs — themes that echo broader federal development initiatives aimed at reducing youth unemployment across Pakistan’s provinces and territories.

Hussain closed by thanking Sharif for federal cooperation on Gilgit-Baltistan’s development and democratic continuity, specifically praising the prime minister’s role in respecting the Pakistan Peoples Party’s electoral mandate and supporting government formation in the region following recent elections — a notable acknowledgment given that Gilgit-Baltistan’s government is led by a different party than the federal coalition’s dominant partner, PML-N.

Sharif reaffirmed the federal government’s commitment to Gilgit-Baltistan’s sustainable development and pledged that the region’s developmental and financial needs would be addressed on a priority basis. Whether that commitment translates into the specific fund disbursements and infrastructure approvals discussed will determine how quickly the region’s energy shortages and pending projects move from pledge to implementation.