India / Kashmir Cultural Centre in Austria said India spends 16 times more in Kashmir as compared to Pakistan

Jammu And Kashmir | India is spending 16 times more on Jammu and Kashmir than the neighboring country Pakistan spends on PoK. This issue is now being discussed in other parts of the world as well. After the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, India is spending at least 16 times more than in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). A seminar on the issue was organized by the Kashmir Cultural Center (Vienna) along with Austria's SPO (Social Democratic Party). The seminar was organized inside Rathaus Hall on the theme "Socio-Economic Development in Kashmir- People's Perspective". The speakers present here compared the development of the two Kashmirs and appreciated India's development work.

Speakers included Naeem Khan, Head of Kashmir Cultural Centre, Vienna, UKPNP President Sardar Shaukat Ali Kashmiri, Nasir Aziz Khan and Sajid Hussain spoke during the seminar. Comparing India and Pakistan, he said that India is spending more on Kashmir than Pakistan.

Naeem Khan compared the socio-economic development of the people of India and Pakistan during the seminar. He said that if we look at the budget of Kashmir and PoK, then this difference is more visible. He said that India spends at least 16 times more on Kashmir than the amount spent by Pakistan. He further elaborated that India spends 9 times more on education than Pakistan. He emphasized that during the last 2 years, the entire focus of the Government of India has been on the socio-economic development of Jammu and Kashmir.

A large number of projects are being completed expeditiously to give a solid infrastructural boost to the economy of Kashmir. According to the Voice of Vienna report, he also said that tourism in Jammu and Kashmir is booming and last year it hosted the highest number of tourists in the last two decades. Comparing the two countries, he stressed that Pakistan has to learn from India and work on the development aspects of Kashmir.

UKPNP spokesman Nasser Aziz Khan said Kashmiris living in Pakistan do not support terrorism and want peace and development in the region. "But Pakistan is only focusing on how to increase terror in India," Khan said.

According to him, Pakistan claims that PoK is a self-governing state and is not constitutionally a part of Pakistan. But this is just a sham as all the natural resources of PoK are enjoyed by the people of Pakistan, not the Kashmiris. The status of Kashmiris in Pakistan is like a second class citizen who has neither rights nor access to resources.

Sajid Hussain, a member of the UKPNP, said that in the upcoming local government elections which are due to be held in November 2022, nationalist leaders like Zulfikar Haider Raja have not been allowed to contest because they refused to sign the affidavit of accession to Pakistan. was refused.

He said, "On one hand Pakistan claims that PoK is a self-governing state, not a part of Pakistan's province. But then on the other why they are insisting on signing the affidavit of accession to Pakistan for everything. PoK This is what is happening in me. It clearly brings to the fore the double standards and false narrative pushed by Pakistan on Kashmir."

Peter Florianschutz, Member of the Vienna State Parliament and Chairman of the State Committee on European and International Affairs, Safak AK, Member of the Vienna State Parliament and the Committee on Education, Youth, Integration and Transparency, Senol Akli, a former member of the Vienna State Parliament and others from the SPO party The members attended the seminar inside the Rathaus Hall, the seat of the Vienna State Government.