Islamabad: The federal government has initiated extensive consultations with key stakeholders to draft a new constitutional, administrative, and financial framework for Gilgit Baltistan (GB). Speaking in the GB Assembly, Chief Minister Amjad Hussain Advocate announced that a high level committee formed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and chaired by Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal will convene in Islamabad on 25 and 26 September 2026.
The committee comprising GB Opposition Leader Hafiz Hafeezur Rehman, Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs and GB Amir Muqam, the Attorney General for Pakistan, and senior officials from the foreign, law, and inter provincial coordination ministries aims to finalise recommendations for a constitutional amendment without altering Pakistan’s historical stance on the Kashmir dispute.
Concurrently, the GB government is presenting its delayed annual budget for fiscal year 2026, 27, following a Rs20.478 billion interim allocation approved for the first quarter. Chief Minister Hussain confirmed that the region will present a deficit budget due to severe financial resource constraints, even as development funds have been allocated equally across constituencies regardless of political affiliation.
To resolve GB’s financial crisis, the regional administration has formally requested a share in the National Finance Commission (NFC) award and proposed an interim financial agreement with the Centre similar to the mechanism in place with Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) until its permanent constitutional status is settled.
