PML-N chief addresses gathering during one-day visit, pledges to take region’s road, power, aviation issues to PM
PML-N President Nawaz Sharif addresses a public gathering in Gilgit-Baltistan on June 2, 2026. SCREENGRAB
ISLAMABAD:
PML-N President Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday pledged to pursue major infrastructure, aviation and energy projects in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B), saying he would take the region’s concerns directly to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, pushing for long-overdue development initiatives.
Addressing a public gathering in G-B, the former prime minister said he would seek federal action to improve road infrastructure, expand Gilgit Airport and address chronic electricity shortages in the region.
Highlighting infrastructural deficits in the region, the PML-N chief said when he arrived in G-B, “The condition of the roads caused me great pain and sadness,” adding that he saw so many potholes, and told people three or four times that seeing the roads made him very sad.
“Once, these roads were built with enthusiasm,” he said, adding that during his tenure, they “started the road from Mansehra, and it was completed very well up to Thakot.” However, he asked why it was not completed up to Gilgit and why it did not continue beyond Gilgit to Chilas.
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“I do not want to speak against any party. I do not want to criticise any government, but my heart compels me to ask: you had the opportunity to govern this country, so why did you neglect this region so much?” Nawaz said. He added that seeing the current condition of G-B saddens him. “Why was no attention paid to it? What was the reason? Your attention was focused elsewhere,” he stated.
Further discussing the road project, Nawaz noted that during his tenure the road was extended to Skardu at a cost of nearly Rs50 billion. “This is the right of the people of Gilgit, it is not a favour from me,” he said.
“My heart weeps. Why was all this allowed to happen? Why was the money that should have been spent on you not spent on you? Where was that money spent?” Nawaz questioned, noting that if hospitals were built in the region, it was PML-N that had built them, applying the same to power plants and hydropower projects, along with the Jaglot-Skardu project, all of which he stated were initiated and completed by his party.
“Tell me the name of any other party that even laid the foundation stone of a project here or started construction of a road here,” Nawaz said. Referring to a four-lane highway from Islamabad to Mansehra that he said should have been extended all the way to G-B, the former prime minister stated that he regretted to say that even the airport remains exactly as it was during his tenure. “It has neither been expanded nor upgraded, the flights are still the same,” Nawaz stated, adding that the airport should have been expanded so that jet aircraft could land there, just as they do in Skardu.
“If that has still not happened, then it causes me great regret, and I express my sorrow to you from the bottom of my heart,” he said. Nawaz added that he had flown to the region on a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aircraft, questioning how many flights operate in the region in a week and saying that it should be 30.
The PML-N chief assured the gathering that he would meet with PM Shehbaz and ask him to expand the airport, creating the capacity for jets to land and take-off from the region. Saying that the travel time from Gilgit to Skardu had been cut down to three hours from nine, Nawaz stated that the party had saved the people of Gilgit six hours of travel time. “How many opportunities have we created for you and your children? Fulfilling this was one of our heartfelt aspirations,” he said.
Discussing Lowari Tunnel in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) that connects Dir and Chitral, Nawaz stated that the project had remained unfinished for 30 to 40 years before it was completed during his tenure. “But here, projects are started and then never seem to reach completion,” he added, noting that the electricity projects in the region remain a particular source of concern for him due to a shortage of electricity despite the abundance of water resources.
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Extending gratitude to his brother, the PML-N chief stated, “I appreciate Shehbaz Sharif, who has allocated 100 megawatts for solar energy here,” but he noted he would tell the prime minister that “20 to 22 hours of load-shedding in winter is not acceptable, and neither is 10 to 12 hours of load-shedding in summer.”
“Others may find it acceptable, but I do not,” Nawaz stated, assuring the gathering that he would speak to PM Shehbaz as soon as he returns to Pakistan. “Whether the solution is found or not, only God knows, but we do not deprive you of these things,” he said.
He concluded his address saying that he would continue to come to G-B “every second or third month” so that the projects in question may be initiated. “I would like to see them being completed under my own supervision and oversight,” the former prime minister added.
Nawaz arrived in G-B on a one-day visit amid ongoing campaigning for the upcoming elections on June 7. Upon his arrival, he was received by Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs Amir Muqam, former G-B chief minister Hafiz Hafeezur Rehman, Captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar, along with other party leaders.
Federal ministers including Khawaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal, Rana Sanaullah, along with Senator Pervaiz Rashid, Punjab Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, Senator Anusha Rahman, and Kazim Pirzada are accompanying Nawaz during his visit.
While in G-B, the PML-N president will hold meetings with party leaders and party ticket holders contesting the elections.
A day ago, the Election Commission issued a No Objection Certificate (NOC) clearing Nawaz to visit G-B to launch his election campaign. The polls, due to take place on June 7, have spurred major political parties to make a final push to mobilise voters across the region before campaigning officially ends later this week.
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However, allegations by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf that the party had been barred from campaigning intensified the political temperature in the region.
In the notification issued by the Election Commission Secretariat of G-B, the chief election commissioner of G-B accorded permission for Nawaz’s visit on Tuesday, “for participation in election-related activities.”
It added that the NOC was subject to strict compliance with the Elections Act, 2017, applicable election laws and rules, and the Code of Conduct for General Elections 2026. “Any violation thereof shall entail legal consequences under the relevant election laws and may result in appropriate proceedings against the concerned candidate(s) and other persons responsible for such violation,” it stated.
