Write an essay; Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan 'province': Will it make the Kashmir dispute irrelevant?
Answers
Explanation:
Pakistani PM Khan has promised to grant provisional provincial status to Gilgit-Baltistan, which is part of the larger Kashmir region. Activists say the move is akin to India's decision to integrate its part of Kashmir.
Earlier this month, Pakistani authorities announced their decision to grant Gilgit-Baltistan — an autonomous region that Islamabad administers in the Pakistan's north — the status of a full province.
In 2009, Islamabad granted autonomy and the provision of a legislative assembly to the region. The Gilgit-Baltistan legislative assembly held elections in 2015, with new polls scheduled for November 15.
Gilgit-Baltistan was part of the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir in 1947. In 1948, a year after India and Pakistan gained independence from Britain's colonial rule, it acceded to Pakistan, hoping it would be given constitutional status.
But the Pakistani government, while accepting the region as part of Pakistan, also regarded it as part of the disputed Kashmir region.