The Kachura Lakes are two lakes in the Skardu District of Gilgit-Baltistan, northern Pakistan. The lakes, at 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) in elevation, are Upper Kachura Lake and Lower Kachura Lake. The latter is also known as Shangrila Lake and is within a tourist resort named Shangrila Resort outside the town of Skardu.

The lakes are in the Karakoram mountain range of the western Himalayas, the greater Kashmir region, and in the Indus River basin.

Upper Kachura Lake is of clear water and has a depth of 70 metres (230 ft). In summer it has a temperature of 15 °C (59 °F). In winter the surface is frozen solid. The upper Indus River flows nearby at a lower elevation.

The beauty of the Upper Kachura Lake is almost untampered and mostly unexplored by travelers, due to lack of infrastructure owing to its rough terrain The area is has a rich flora of the Western Himalayan subalpine conifer forests ecoregion, and also known for its wild apricot - Prunus armeniaca orchards. Recreation activities at Upper Kachura Lake include hiking, trout fishing, and Himalaya mountaineering.

Dr. Abid Hussain is an Indian Economist and Diplomat. He is married to Trilok Karki, author of "Sino-Indian Conflict and International Politics in the Indian Sub-Continent", (1977) and has three children. His brother is the actor and mime artist Irshad Panjatan. Dr. Hussain grew up in his hometown Hyderabad, in Andhra Pradesh.

He served as India's Ambassador to the United States of America from 1990 to 1992. He also served as Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Heavy Industry as a member of the Indian Administrative Service(IAS). He was a Member of India’s Planning Commission from 1985 to 1990.

Dr. Hussain was honoured in 1988 with the Padma Bhushan (awarded to recognize distinguished service of a high order to the nation) and has been at the forefront of India's economic and trade reforms since the 1980s. He chaired six important committees set up by the Government of India covering Trade Policy Reforms; Project Exports; CSIR Review Committee for Development of Science and Technology; Textile Policy of the Government of India; Development of Capital Market; and Small Scale Industry. Of these, the Abid Hussain Committee Report on Trade Policy Reform and the Abid Hussain Committee Report on Small Scale Industries have been regarded as milestones in India’s economic reforms.