Pakistan plans a change in Gilgit-Baltistan status

The Pakistan government plans to make Gilgit-Baltistan the country’s fifth province, two years after powers of the Islamabad-controlled council for the region were transferred to a local assembly.

Gilgit-Baltistan: at a glance

• Gilgit-Baltistan is a high altitude mountainous region located in the northwest of Jammu and Kashmir.
• This area was a part of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, but since the Pakistani army’s invasion of Kashmir in 1947, this area is under the control of Pakistan.
• Both Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan are separate areas, while India considers them a part of Jammu and Kashmir.
• Current status of Gilgit-Baltistan
• Currently Gilgit-Baltistan has a Legislative Assembly with limited powers, administered by the Ministry of Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan Affairs in the Government of Pakistan.
• Apart from this, the real powers of this region are vested in a council headed by the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Four provinces of Pakistan

• Currently, Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh are the four provinces of Pakistan, thus if Gilgit-Baltistan is declared as a full province, it will be the 5th province of Pakistan.

What is CPEC?

• The China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a construction project launched in 2013, aims to connect Gwadar Port in Pakistan’s Balochistan with China’s Xinjiang province.
• The corridor is a flagship project of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
• The project, originally valued at USD 46 billion, is currently worth over USD 60 billion as of
• The work on the Moqpondass Special Economic Zone is expected to begin soon under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

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