Pakistan's Dirty Game-plan on Gilgit Baltistan

Pakistan does not shy away when it comes to grab opportunities over meddling with India and this time it is with Gilgit Baltistan. While India is busy at the eastern front in Ladakh with China on the LAC, Islamabad has come up with a new mischief, including ceasefire violation and cross border firing in a bid to infantrate terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.

Meanwhile Indian forces are giving a befitting reply to the Pakistani violations, Imran Khan has elevated the matter and has now decided to make Gilgit-Baltistan a province of Pakistan.

Ali Amin Gandapur, the minister for Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan Affairs, was quoted as saying on Wednesday that Prime Minister Imran Khan would be visiting the region to make a formal announcement in this regard, according to a report in Pakistani newspaper Express Tribune.

It is worthy to note that Pakistan’s constitution does not consider Gilgit-Baltistan as its province and has only four regions - Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan.

This is clearly another provocation by Islamabad, and will only serve to exacerbate India-Pakistan tensions. Pakistan is sitting on Indian land – Jammu and Kashmir’s accession to India included the entire region of what is now known as Pakistan-Occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan.

New Delhi has made its stance on the issue clear, emphasising that Pakistan’s government and judiciary have no locus standi on the territories Pakistan has illegally and forcibly occupied. Further, India completely rejects any action or attempt to bring material changes in such Indian territory occupied by Pakistan. India expects Pakistan to vacate all areas it has illegally occupied with immediate effect.

In recent years, despite India's objections, China and Pakistan have gone ahead with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and a Special Economic Zone in Gilgit-Baltistan, adding another dimension to India's security concerns.

How Gilgit-Baltistan fell into Pakistan’s hands

Situated in the northwest part of Jammu and Kashmir, the picturesque Gilgit-Baltistan was a mountainous part of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir till 1947. Pakistan occupied it after tribal militias backed by regular Pakistani troops invaded Kashmir in the months after Independence. The region was initially named ‘The Northern Areas of Pakistan’, and brought under Islamabad’s direct control. The ‘Northern Areas’ is not to be confused with PoJK, another illegally occupied territory which Pakistan calls “Azad Kashmir”.

In terms of size, the ‘Northern Areas’ is massive, over six times that of PoK.

A decade ago, the federal government in Pakistan enacted the so-called Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order, and the region was re-christened Gilgit-Baltistan. This region post the abrogation of Article 370 came under the newly formed Union Territory of Ladakh.