ISLAMABAD, July 17: The Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution urging Pakistan’s federal government to grant the mountainous region provisional provincial status along with constitutional and political rights, according to a media report on Friday.
The resolution, supported by both treasury and opposition members, was moved by lawmaker Jalal Ali Shah during the assembly session on Thursday, Dawn newspaper reported.
It noted that the Gilgit-Baltistan (Empowerment and Self-Governance) Order 2009 established an elected legislative assembly and enhanced self-governance, while reaffirming that constitutional advancement of the region remaÂined an objective of the state.
It also noted that the Gilgit-Baltistan Order, 2018, granted legislative powers to the assembly following recommendations made by a committee headed by the late politician Sartaj Aziz.
The House urged the federal government to implement the committee’s recommendations by granting Gilgit-Baltistan provisional provincial status, enabling its residents to elect representatives to Pakistan’s National Assembly and secure representation at the federal level.
Gilgit-Baltistan is administered separately by Pakistan. India has consistently maintained that the entire union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, are integral and inalienable parts of India.
New Delhi has rejected Pakistan’s attempts to alter the status of these territories, saying such measures have no legal basis and cannot change the ground reality. (PTI)
