Today's situation in the Shaksgam Valley is the consequence of what happened in Gilgit in 1947. But is India ready to militarily get back its territories? asks Claude Arpi.
'China's basic purpose of taking the Shaksgam Valley was access to the Indian Ocean.'
Pakistan perceives that if it had declared Gilgit-Baltistan, PoK or both, which are only a part of the territories of J&K, as legitimate provinces of Pakistan it would weaken its case for the entire J&K and lead to legal complications, observes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Gilgit Baltistan's large frontage with Kashmir and Ladakh across Kargil and the Siachen Glacier gives Pakistan and China the perceived scope for conduct of collusive operations against India and wrest control of the major course of the Indus and Shyok, observes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
'The president of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is pleased to announce Sunday, the 15th November 2020, as the poll day for the general elections to the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Legislative Assembly in terms of Section 57(1) of the Elections Act 2017,' the statement said. Reacting to the development, the Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Anurag Srivastava said in New Delhi said the Government of Pakistan or its judiciary has no locus standi on territories illegally and forcibly occupied by it.
Demonstrators took to the streets to protest against what they called the rigged election in which Pakistan ruling party is said to be winning, and erected barricades to block the movement, Dawn reported.
India has clearly conveyed to Pakistan that the entire union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including the areas of Gilgit and Baltistan, are an integral part of the country by virtue of its fully legal and irrevocable accession.
Srivastava's response came following a media query about Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's comments in Gilgit on Sunday about his government's decision to accord "provisional provincial status" to the Gilgit-Baltistan region.
German biathlete and double Olympic champion Laura Dahlmeier has been at least seriously injured in a mountaineering accident in Pakistan, German media said.
India on Tuesday flagged its objections to elections being held in Gilgit-Baltistan, which forms a part of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, and termed the move as an attempt to camouflage the 'forcible and illegal' occupation of the region.
In a move that is bound to raise hackles in India, Pakistan is working on raising the constitutional status of its occupied Gilgit-Baltistan to address China's concerns over the $46-billion economic corridor through the strategic region.
India has slammed Pakistan for its decision to hold elections in Gilgit-Baltistan and said any action to alter the status of the militarily-occupied region has no legal basis.
Notwithstanding India's objection, Pakistan on Monday held legislative assembly elections in the strategic Gilgit-Baltistan region amid tight security.
Notably, Siachen is the highest battlefield of the world, which sits on the nuclear tri-junction of India, Pakistan and China.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has emerged as the single largest party in the legislative assembly elections in the strategically-located Gilgit-Baltistan region.
German double Olympic biathlon champion Laura Dahlmeier has died after a mountaineering accident in Pakistan, her management and local authorities confirmed on Wednesday.
'If they can be duplicitous, we can be equally duplicitous.' 'If they offer friendship, we reciprocate.' 'If they choose hostility, we respond with equal hostility.'
A 4.6 magnitude earthquake shook parts of Pakistan on Monday with the epicentre located close to a prominent faultline in its Punjab province, the director of the National Center for Seismology (NCS) said.
More than twice as much global glacier mass will remain if countries restrict temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to the warming level of 2.7 degrees Celsius resulting from the current policies, says a new study released.
"Our position on the entire Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir being an integral part of India is well known. We would urge the international community to respect our sovereignty and territorial integrity," Bagchi said when asked about Blome's visit.
The Pakistan army's Bahawalpur Corps has always had a special significance for India as it keeps an eye on the Jaish e Mohammed, explains Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
The recent incident has eroded trust and Chinese social media reflects growing anxiety, with calls for stricter security measures to protect Chinese lives.
The move, which is likely to allow the Chinese to mine the mineral-rich area of Gilgit Baltistan rampantly, has triggered another wave of protests and violence by the local communities.
Chinese authorities have been highlighting two path-breaking aspects of their assistance for flood relief to Pakistan, which started on August 1, 2010, and continues since then.The first is the value of the assistance, which has already reached US $ 250 million (pledges plus actual amount). This includes a sum of US $ 200 million pledged by Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, in his address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 22.
UN intervention has been sought to address the grievances of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
A strong 6.8 magnitude earthquake with the epicentre in Afghanistan shook Pakistan, killing at least 12 people and injuring nearly 250 others in both the countries, authorities said on Wednesday.
The Ministry of External Affairs said Pakistan was told that entire Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including areas of Gilgit and Baltistan, are an integral part of India and that Islamabad should immediately vacate the areas under its illegal occupation.
India must sit up and take notice of the activities going on in Gilgit-Baltistan due to the immense strategic importance of the region, according to G Parthasarathi, former ambassador to Pakistan.
The PCB, in an official statement, said that the gate earnings from the first T20I against England will be donated to the fund.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday inaugurated five 'Pakistan-China Friendship Tunnels' built at the cost of about USD 275 million (approximately Rs 1,800 crore) to restore a strategic road link to China via Gilgit-Baltistan.
The state broadcasters have started the practice, but private news channels may follow suit, a ministry source said.
The IMD had said the Southwest Monsoon would hit parts of north India including Delhi on July 10, but it had not occurred till Sunday evening.
Sources in PoK reveal that special quarantine centres have been set-up in Mirpur and other major cities in the occupied regions to cleanse the Punjab province of COVID-19 patients as Army top brass has ordered that no positive patient should be anywhere near where Army facilities and Army family housing is there.
'I think because India is a bigger country and Bollywood is such a well-oiled machine, the star thing has become so much bigger than the actor thing.'
A Kashmiri leader has revealed that China is in occupation of parts of Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Aksai Chin, despite not being a party to any of these land ownership disputes
Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is set to arrive in Islamabad on Saturday after a four-year self-imposed exile in the United Kingdom, months ahead of general elections.
"We are always ready for talks with Pakistan but with a caveat that terror and talks cannot go together... There cannot be a comprehensive dialogue till Pakistan shuns terror," the minister said while addressing a press conference at the completion of four years in power of the Narendra Modi-led government.
Chinese response to the presence of its troops in Gilgit-Baltistan, an area described by its foreign ministry as 'northern part of Pakistan,' was curiously omitted in the official transcript, a day after it created a flutter in New Delhi.
"The total number of Chinese personnel in and on the border of Gilgit-Baltistan is uncertain, but most estimates suggest a minimum of 7,000," Selig Harrison told PTI.
In a quiet move, Pakistan is handing over de-facto control of the strategic Gilgit- Baltistan region in the Occupied Kashmir to China in an area witnessing a simmering rebellion against Islamabad. The New York Times said that there were two important new developments in Gilgit-Baltistan; a simmering rebellion against the Pakistani rule and the influx of an estimated 7,000 to 11,000 soldiers of the Chinese People's Liberation Army in the area, which is closed to the world.
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