Gilgit-Baltistan Region "EMPOWER IAS"

In news:

• Pakistan government has recently announced that it would give the Gilgit-Baltistan region “provisional provincial status”. When that happens, G-B will become the sixth official province of Pakistan.

 

Gilgit-Baltistan

• Gilgit-Baltistan is the northernmost territory administered by Pakistan, providing the country’s only territorial frontier, and thus a land route, with China, where it meets the Xinjiang Autonomous Region.
• The region is an illegally occupied Indian territory as it was the part of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu & Kashmir as it existed in 1947 at its accession to India.
• To G-B’s west is Afghanistan, to its south is Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, and to the east J&K.

 

 

Current Status of Gilgit-Baltistan:

• It is an autonomous region now and with this elevation, it will become the 5th province of the country.
• Currently, Pakistan has four provinces namely Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh.

Chronology:

• 1999: Pakistan’s Supreme Court ruled that the people of Gilgit-Baltistan are Pakistani citizens and directed the federal government to start appropriate administrative and legislative measures.
• 2009: The Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order was introduced, whereby the Northern Areas were renamed as Gilgit-Baltistan and the region was given province-like status but without representation in Parliament.
• 2015: A committee constituted by the federal government proposed giving Gilgit-Baltistan the status of a province.
• 2018: A new order was introduced which transferred all powers of the Gilgit-Baltistan council to its assembly.
• This elevation will lead to adequate representation from the province on all constitutional bodies, including the National Assembly and the Senate.
• The Government will also start working on the Moqpondass Special Economic Zone (SEZ) under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)
• SEZs work as an engine for economic growth supported by quality infrastructure complemented by an attractive fiscal package, both at the Centre and the State level, with the minimum possible regulations.

 

Other Developments by China in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir under CPEC:

• Diamer-Bhasha Dam.
• Kohala hydropower Project.
• Azad Pattan Hydel Power Project.
• Why the separate status?

 

Move for a status-quo?

• The plan to grant G-B provincial status is linked to CPEC and Chinese interest as well as a response to India’s abrogation of Art. 370.
• While India has objected to the plan to make G-B a province of Pakistan and in the recent past asserted that it will take control of G-B, there is a realization that it is impossible to change the map now.
• In this sense, it can be argued that the merger of G-B with Pakistan is a move that could help both countries put the past behind and move forward on the Kashmir issue, sometime in the future.

 

India's Stand:
 

• India has held that the Government of Pakistan or its judiciary has no locus standi on territories illegally and forcibly occupied by it.
• India completely rejects such actions and continued attempts to bring material changes in Pakistan occupied areas of the Indian territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
• While protesting Islamabad’s efforts to bring material change in Pakistan occupied territories, India held that Pakistan should immediately vacate all areas under its illegal occupation.