The separatists in Kashmir have cautioned Pakistan not to merge Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) as its fifth province since it will harm the Kashmir cause.
The Pakistan government is mulling merging Gilgit-Baltistan with Pakistan to legitimise the 52 billion dollar investment by China on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that passes through the area.
India has opposed the use of Gilgit-Baltistan territory for CPEC on the grounds that the territory belongs to India and is under illegal occupation of Pakistan.
But China has pressed Pakistan to legitimise its control on Gilgit-Baltistan by merging it with Pakistan or changing the constitutional status of the area to justify its inclusion in the much-hyped CPEC.
The affairs of Gilgit-Baltistan, also called northern areas by Pakistan, are largely managed by the federal government of Pakistan. However, it elects a legislative assembly.
The area was made a separate administrative entity by Pakistan in 1970.
In 2009, the area was made self-governing territory of Pakistan with separate legislative assembly and chief minister.
The Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) leaders are also opposed to the idea of granting Gilgit-Baltistan the status of the fifth province for fear that it would render the demand for plebiscite or referendum in entire Jammu and Kashmir as null and void.
The PoK leaders and separatists fear that if Pakistan merges the area, it would legitimise India's control on a portion of territory belonging to Jammu and Kashmir.
“Kashmir, Ladakh, Jammu, Azad Kashmir (PoK) and Gilgit-Baltistan are a single entity. The political destiny of Jammu and Kashmir is yet to be decided," a spokesman of JRL said. "Proposal to declare Gilgit-Baltistan as the fifth province of Pakistan will have a damaging impact on the status of the state,” said a spokesman of JRL. Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) is a collective comprising Hurriyat Conference (G) led by Syed Ali Geelani, Hurriyat Conference led (M) led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik.
The spokesman said Jammu and Kashmir is a long-standing issue in international forums and the global community has agreed to decide its political destiny through resolutions acknowledged by UN.
"Unless and until the people of the state are provided an opportunity to decide the future through a referendum, no division, alteration or changes are acceptable. Both India and Pakistan have no authority or right to alter the geographical status of the state,'' the spokesman said.
Declaring Pakistan as the prime party to Kashmir issue, the JRL said people in Jammu and Kashmir have always regarded and accepted the role of Pakistan in this dispute. “However, any step which may hamper the disputed status of Kashmir is unacceptable,” the spokesman said.
