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.
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.
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.
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.
Notwithstanding India's objection, Pakistan on Monday held legislative assembly elections in the strategic Gilgit-Baltistan region amid tight security.
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.
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.
The Indian Army captured Thang in Ladakh in the 1971 War. Ghulam Hussain had left home for a routine errand found himself on the other side of an altered border. He could never return and found a new country and a new home.
The body of renowned Nepalese-British mountaineer Nirmal Purja was recovered on Broad Peak, three days after he and nine other climbers were swept away in a devastating avalanche. Rescue efforts are ongoing to locate the remaining five climbers amidst challenging terrain and weather conditions.
Veteran Nepalese mountaineer Nirmal Purja, 43, has died in an avalanche on Broad Peak in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir's Gilgit Baltistan. He was part of a 10-member climbing team caught in the avalanche at 7,000 metres. Three bodies have been identified, and six others located, with Purja's death confirmed by Elite Expedition.
A search and rescue operation is underway for at least 10 climbers, including renowned Nepali mountaineer Nirmal Purja, who are missing on Pakistan's Broad Peak following a suspected avalanche on Thursday.
An Mi-17 helicopter of the Pakistan Army Aviation crashed near Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, killing all personnel on board. The military attributed the accident to a technical fault during take-off, and a board of inquiry has been ordered. Top Pakistani leaders expressed condolences.
At the border, places that you had just seen on a map, suddenly acquire a life. Looking at the vast expanse of quiet land, you realise an emotional connect, a sense of belonging binds you to a piece of land which is not merely territory, but a part of who you are.
Eight bodies have been recovered from the deadly avalanche on Broad Peak in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, including that of veteran British-Nepalese mountaineer Nirmal Purja, with rescuers still searching for the remaining two members of the 10-member expedition team.
A Pakistan Army Mi-17 helicopter crashed near Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir due to a technical fault, killing all personnel on board. An inquiry has been ordered into the incident, which follows other recent helicopter crashes in the region.
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.
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.
German biathlete and double Olympic champion Laura Dahlmeier has been at least seriously injured in a mountaineering accident in Pakistan, German media said.
Nirmal Purja, the Nepali-British climber famous for scaling all 14 of the world's 8,000-metre peaks in record time, has been confirmed dead after an avalanche on Broad Peak, located in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir's Gilgit-Baltistan.
"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.
'China's basic purpose of taking the Shaksgam Valley was access to the Indian Ocean.'
Phunchuk Stobdan's forte was candour and strong views on India's defence. Naturally, India's adversaries were in awe of him, fearing his views and unyielding stand on boundary issues, remembers Tarun Vijay.
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.
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.
"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.
UN intervention has been sought to address the grievances of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
A non-profit organisation reports a rise in child abuse and gender-based violence cases across Pakistan in 2025, with Punjab province accounting for the majority of reported incidents.
Gwadar is viewed as a critical pearl in China's maritime strategy as it would give a permanent logistical footprint near an important choke point - the Strait of Hormuz and the oil rich Persian Gulf, explains Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
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 two policemen were injured by "hard and blunt instruments", while "two protesters with firearm injuries" were also brought to JPMC, the surgeon told Dawn.
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.
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.
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
The state broadcasters have started the practice, but private news channels may follow suit, a ministry source said.
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.
