Disregarding India’s strong protests, Pakistan is moving ahead with plans to make Gilgit Baltistan its fifth province, with a federal minister saying that elections in the region that New Delhi opposes will be held in November. “After consultation with all stakeholders, the federal government has decided in principle to give constitutional rights to Gilgit-Baltistan,” the minister said, adding, “Our government …
The Ministry of External Affairs said a demarche was issued to a senior Pakistani diplomat clearly conveying that the entire union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including the areas of Gilgit and Baltistan, are an integral part of India. The Ministry of External Affairs said a demarche was issued to a senior Pakistani diplomat lodging a strong protest …
For those unaware of the black hole that is Gilgit-Baltistan, it is not constitutionally part of Pakistan, and was hived away from the original state of Jammu and Kashmir in 1949. This does nothing less than recite a highly selected history of the Kashmir conflict, pauses to praise the moral stance of the Pakistan government, dodges key legal issues in …
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