India and Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan Issue

A region endowed with natural beauty and abundant resources, that brings the sick here in search of health and the healthy in search of longevity.

Gilgit-Baltistan formerly known as the Northern Areas is the northernmost territory administered by Pakistan.

Gilgit-Baltistan covers an area of 72,971 sq.km and comprises of about 86% of the total area of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). It has an estimated population of 1.2 million. The PoK is administratively divided into two parts which are called Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan in official languages.

For over 71 years now, ever since the Indo-Pakistani partition in 1947, Gilgit-Baltistan’s legal identity and constitutional status have been disputed.

A Chronology of Key Events

• 1947 - The Maharaja of Kashmir signed an instrument of accession with India after Pakistan’s Pashtun Tribal Army attacked Jammu and Kashmir and captured a part of this region. To tackle the critical situation Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir sought military assistance from the Indian government. On the basis of this accession of treaty, India had the full right to interfere in the matters related to Jammu and Kashmir.
• 1948 - India raised the Kashmir issue in the UN Security Council, UNCIP (UN Commission for India and Pak) was formed which in Resolution 47 calls for a referendum on the status of the territory. The resolution also called on Pakistan to withdraw its troops and India to cut its military presence to a minimum. A ceasefire comes into force but Pakistan, as always refused to evacuate its troops.
• The 1947 UN Resolution mentions that Gilgit-Baltistan is a disputed region.
• In 1948, ceasefire line became LOC and a de facto border thus came into being. (Note: Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir are two different administrations in Pakistan)

However, the history of Gilgit-Baltistan dates back to many centuries. Initially, the land of Gilgit-Baltistan was known as Dardistan or the land of Dards or Dardic people. In 1846 Kashmir’s Dogra kings conquered Gilgit and made it part of the Jammu & Kashmir province. Until the India Pakistan partition in 1947 Gilgit-Baltistan existed as an Independent state.

Is Gilgit-Baltistan a province of Pakistan or a disputed territory?

Since Independence in 1947, Kashmir has remained a bone of contention between India and Pakistan. Both countries have fought three wars so far, but the dispute continues to be a source of irritant in their relations to date.

The state of Jammu and Kashmir legally is an integral part of India, but parts thereof are illegally occupied by Pakistan and China. The area of Aksai Chin was occupied by China since 1962 (Indo-China War) while Pakistan continues to illegally occupy parts of Kashmir, which includes the Gilgit-Baltistan region, Pakistan Occupied Kashmir or Azad Kashmir.

Since its occupation, the history of the region has been quite bumpy.

The region is often referred to as the ‘forgotten Kashmir’ or ‘the forgotten frontier’ because it doesn't figure too prominently in the media as well.

The Gilgit-Baltistan Reforms Order 2018

In 1970 Gilgit Agency, Baltistan District of Ladakh Wazarat, hill states of Hunza and Nagar were amalgamated to form the Federally Administered Northern Areas. The region more than six times the size of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), is a part of Kashmir that is under illegal occupation, and Pakistan changed its name to Gilgit-Baltistan in the year 2009 and also gifted a part of the Gilgit-Baltistan territory (5800 sq km) to China in the year 1963 without the consent of the locals.

Pakistan had been trying to change the demography of the Gilgit-Baltistan area for decades. The region grabbed headlines once again when Pakistan Ex-Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi announced the proposed Gilgit-Baltistan Reforms Order 2018. The executive order intends to begin legislative, judicial and administrative measures to integrate Gilgit-Baltistan with the rest of the federal structure of Pakistan.

The Four Provinces of Pakistan:

1. Punjab
2. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP)
3. Sindh
4. Balochistan

Gilgit-Baltistan, an integral part of Jammu and Kashmir has been arbitrarily governed by Pakistan since 1947. And now the Pakistani Government has moved towards subjugating Gilgit-Baltistan as its fifth province.

Importance of Gilgit-Baltistan to Pakistan And China

Sharing its border with India, China, and Pakistan, Gilgit-Baltistan is strategically crucial. In its west is the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in the north are China and Afghanistan, and Jammu and Kashmir lies to the east of the region. The world’s highest battlefield Siachen and the world’s second highest peak the Kanchenjunga 2 also in the Gilgit-Baltistan area. The Indus River flows through the Ladakh region onwards to Gilgit-Baltistan.

Time and again both Pakistan and China have tried to establish their control on this region.

In the 1960s China constructed the Karakoram highway passing through the Gilgit-Baltistan region. This highway connects Islamabad and Gilgit. This highway goes all the way to Kashgar in China’s Xinjiang province. Beijing is also trying to connect the Xinjiang province to Balochistan Gwadar port through a highway. China wants to strengthen its hold on regions that are strategically important and for this, it needs Pakistan’s help. It is a strategic location i.e. provides land access to China, contains vast reservoirs of fresh water and the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passes through it. Due to this immense geo-strategic significance both Pakistan and China are trying to exploit the region to suit their interest.

If this area becomes Pakistan’s fifth province then Chinese interference will increase. China has invested heavily in the region to exploit its natural resources.

What are the reasons behind Pakistan’s attempt to assimilate Gilgit-Baltistan?

Pakistan claims that under the new reform package the people of Gilgit-Baltistan will have the same rights as are cherished by the people of the other four provinces of the country. But the reality is that Pakistan and China are also looking to exploit the region for its natural resources. Pakistan is only trying to show that it is bringing reforms to the region. But Pakistan’s move is mainly in the interests of China.

After the introduction of CPEC, the demand for provincial status gained momentum. The multi-billion dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), passes through Pakistan’s disputed Northern region of Gilgit-Baltistan. With a $50billion investment in the CPEC, China would hardly want the CPEC route to run on a disputed territory tag. Pakistan is trying to elevate the constitutional status of the region to provide legal cover to CPEC.

China here is the clear winner.

The law is opposed by the local people as they do not want to be a part of Pakistan. They want to retain their Kashmiri identity. Massive protests erupted across Gilgit-Baltistan demanding separate and inviolable constitutional rights for the region. The locals call CPEC a loot by the Pakistani Government saying their human rights and resources are in danger.

India’s stand on Gilgit-Baltistan Issue

Gilgit-Baltistan is a legal and constitutional part of Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan cannot annex it and it has to ultimately merge with Jammu and Kashmir.

Declaring Gilgit-Baltistan as the fifth province by Pakistan is unacceptable as it also goes against the UN Resolution which clearly mentions that Gilgit-Baltistan is a disputed area. It also violates the 1972 Shimla Agreement that mentions that “neither side shall unilaterally alter the situation.”

Moreover, a disputed area cannot be given the status of a province of a country.

The two UN Resolutions of 13 August 1948 and January 5, 1949, clearly establish a link between Gilgit-Baltistan and the Kashmir issue. It mentioned that “pending a final solution, territory evacuated by the Pakistani troops will be administered by the ‘local authorities”.

By mentioning Gilgit-Baltistan as the fifth province of Pakistan has further stonewalled a resolution of the Kashmir issue. Interestingly, the Kashmiri separatists from both sides of Jammu and Kashmir and from the so-called ‘Azad’ Kashmir oppose this move as this may create a barrier in their demand for Freedom.

India has diplomatically strongly opposed this move by Pakistan. An official press release from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the region belongs to India and that Pakistan’s action has no legal support.

“It was clearly conveyed that the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir which also includes the so-called ‘Gilgit-Baltistan’ areas is an integral part of India by virtue of its accession in 1947. Any action to alter the status of any part of the territory under forcible and illegal occupation of Pakistan has no legal basis whatsoever, and is completely unacceptable,” the official press release said.

Shaukat Ali Kashmiri, a leader who has been to jail over his campaign against Pakistan, sums up the status of the region: "We are a part of Pakistan when they want to rule us and our land, but not a part of Pakistan when we want the rights that other Pakistanis have."

The order to alter the status of the region is just another land grabbing tactic of Pakistan. However, the change of demography and status of Gilgit-Baltistan goes against the position of the Indian Parliament which, in the year 1994 passed a resolution in support of India’s claims over the undivided Jammu and Kashmir.