Lahore, Dec 12,2025: PML-N President and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Friday urged Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to allocate funds to Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) under the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award.
Speaking to party leaders in Lahore, Nawaz said both regions should receive a fixed annual share through the NFC mechanism to ease the Centre’s financial burden and ensure predictable funding. “Funds should be given to Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan under the NFC Award. I will speak to PM Shehbaz Sharif in this regard,” he said.
Nawaz noted that while the proposal had been floated in the past — including during former prime minister Imran Khan’s tenure and previously by current Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar — smaller provinces had repeatedly opposed including AJK and GB in the NFC formula.
The former prime minister stressed the need for strengthening the administrative capacity of both regions to effectively utilise allocated funds. “They need to know how to spend that money. The way I wanted such funds utilised did not happen in the past,” he remarked.
Nawaz also invited applications for party tickets for the upcoming elections in both regions, setting December 31 as the deadline. He warned that infighting over nominations would not be tolerated.
“We will award tickets on merit in both provinces, as we do elsewhere. Anyone involved in internal disputes will be excluded from the process,” he said.
He added that once applications were received, he would personally visit AJK and GB to meet candidates.
The PML-N supremo also lauded Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif for initiatives including cancer hospitals, model villages and the metro bus service.
The federal government last week proposed mobilising additional consolidated revenues of over 5% of GDP — around Rs6.5 trillion annually — over the next three years, during the inaugural session of the long-delayed NFC talks.
Participants of the meeting told reporters that there was no discussion on reducing the provinces’ 57.5% share in the divisible pool, dismissing speculation of cuts. They added that issues relating to federal and provincial responsibilities fall under the jurisdiction of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) and the National Economic Council (NEC).
Fiscal requirements of AJK and GB, officials said, would be examined further at a working-group level.
AJK has recently experienced political instability, with the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee leading prolonged protests from September to November over an unmet charter of demands, including the abolition of 12 refugee seats in the legislative assembly.
The movement turned violent after a communications blackout was imposed, and clashes involving rival groups left at least 10 people dead. Two rounds of talks between AJK and the federal government — in September and October — resulted in agreements on additional funding, cabinet downsizing and investigations into protest-related deaths.
The turmoil culminated in a no-confidence vote against then–prime minister Chaudhry Anwarul Haq on November 17, after which PPP leader Faisal Rathore was sworn in as the new AJK premier.
