The state government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir has decided to lodge a protest against any attempt to convert Gilgit-Baltistan into a province. In this respect, a resolution will be tabled in the AJK’s Legislative Assembly during the forthcoming session commencing on January 12.
Addressing a press conference at the Prime Minister’s House on Saturday, Minister for Finance, Planning and Development Chaudhry Latif Akber said that “Gilgit-Baltistan is part and parcel of the divided and disputed state of Jammu Kashmir and any attempt to merge Gilgit-Baltistan into Pakistan will deal a fatal blow to our stand in the light of UN resolutions envisaging right to self-determination for the Kashmiris.”
“We will not let the division of Jammu Kashmir on any cost,” the minister said, adding that Gilgit-Baltistan was a constitutional part of the Jammu Kashmir state.
Recalling that Gilgit-Baltistan had been given in the administrative control of Pakistan on a temporary basis, Akber asked the federal government not to think beyond that and called upon it to give rights to Gilgit-Biltastan as Azad Jammu Kashmir and other provinces were enjoying. He further said that the establishment was conspiring against the nation as it did not want to see the nation united.