ISLAMABAD – The federal government on Saturday set the deadline for the eventual merger of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with Fata as the date of the liberation of Indian-occupied Kashmir.
“We do know it is about time that the restive tribal areas were merged with the province, but there is a lot that needs to be done,” said Qadir Baloch of the PML(N). “We do not want to rush this thing at all. To that end, we need to phase the process and set a time line.”
“To that end, we have come to the conclusion that perhaps the best point in time would be the liberation of Kashmir as well, so we can take into account exactly the sort of finances that the NFC commission will have to calculate,” he said.
“We know that it is definitely going to happen, so why not wait it out for a bit and let the dust settle here,” he said. “I can give it till end of next year, but some of my friends are not as optimistic and say that it is going to take till the year after that.”
