In an attempt to promote tourism in the area, President Dr Arif Alvi has announced commercial helicopter flying operations of Kashmir Air in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
The president stated that AJK is gifted with enormous natural beauty and tourist potential and that the business sector should step forward to enhance AJK’s tourism industry in order to realise its full potential. The president was speaking at the inauguration ceremony for Kashmir Air on Tuesday in Bagh.
According to Samaa, a private firm called Kashmir Air will launch regular commercial helicopter flights to the AJK and other parts of northern Pakistan to transport visitors.
The president spent a full day in AJK, where he opened the helicopter flight service, paid a visit to the flagship facility of a healthcare IT business in Bagh, inaugurated a high-end private school, and learned about plans to build a hospital in Abbaspur.
Along with developing tourism-friendly regulations to encourage private-sector investment, President Alvi asked the AJK government to promote environmentally responsible and sustainable tourism.
He stated that tourism was now a major industry in many developing nations and was seen as a key driver of foreign exchange earnings, employment creation, and the elimination of economic inequalities.
The president claimed that the UN had failed to settle the Jammu and Kashmir conflict in a manner that satisfied the demands of the Kashmiri people.
He claimed that the UN resolutions serve as the foundation for the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s (IIOJK) resistance. He said that although the UN was established to prevent conflicts and wars, since its founding it has mostly served to advance the interests of western nations.
“Genocide Watch has warned that Muslims and other minorities in India are insecure but nobody is coming forwards to listen to the minorities and Muslims of India who are under constant threat,” the president added.
He reaffirmed Pakistan’s desire to resolve all of its disputes, including Jammu and Kashmir, through dialogue. Pakistan desires a peaceful resolution to the IIOJK, but the president has cautioned India not to see Pakistan’s peace efforts as a sign of weakness.
He claimed that the IIOJK people had made immeasurable sacrifices and that Pakistan will continue to stand with them morally, politically, and diplomatically until they were granted the right to self-determination in accordance with UN resolutions.
