Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly Seeks Provisional Provincial Status From Pakistan

New Delhi/Islamabad, Jul 17: The Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly has unanimously passed a resolution urging Pakistan’s federal government to grant the region provisional provincial status along with constitutional and political rights, according to media reports. The resolution, moved by legislator Jalal Ali Shah during the Assembly session on Thursday, received support from both treasury and opposition members. It stated that the Gilgit-Baltistan (Empowerment and Self-Governance) Order, 2009 established an elected legislative assembly and strengthened self-governance while recognising constitutional advancement of the region as a national objective. The resolution also referred to the Gilgit-Baltistan Order, 2018, which expanded the Assembly’s legislative powers based on the recommendations of a committee headed by the late politician Sartaj Aziz. The Assembly urged Islamabad to implement those recommendations by granting provisional provincial status, enabling the people of Gilgit-Baltistan to elect representatives to Pakistan’s National Assembly and secure representation at the federal level. India has consistently maintained that the entire Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, including Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), are integral and inalienable parts of India. New Delhi has repeatedly rejected Pakistan’s attempts to alter the status of these territories, asserting that such measures have no legal validity and cannot change the ground reality.