LONDON: The UK Parliament has tabled a motion condemning Pakistan's “arbitrary” move to declare the strategic Gilgit-Baltistan region as its fifth province. Conservative Party MP Bob Blackman who has often seen speaking in support of Kashmiri Hindus rights, tabled the Early Day Motion titled 'Annexation of Gilgit-Baltistan as by Pakistan as its fifth frontier' on March 23.
The motion said that the region has been illegally occupied by Pakistan since 1947 and the country is attempting to annex the already disputed area. The EDM noted that “Gilgit-Baltistan is a legal and constitutional part of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, India, which is illegally occupied by Pakistan since 1947, and where people are denied their fundamental rights including the right of freedom of expression.” It also said, “That this House condemns the arbitrary announcement by Pakistan declaring Gilgit-Baltistan as its Fifth Frontier, implying its attempt to annex the already disputed area.”
It also said that the “attempts to change the demography of the region comes in violation of State Subject Ordinance and forcibly and illegally to build the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which further aggravates and interferes with the disputed territory.”
Pakistan's Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Riaz Hussain Pirzada told the media on March 14, that a committee headed by Advisor of Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz had proposed giving the status of a province to Gilgit-Baltistan. India has already termed the move “entirely unacceptable” as the region borders disputed PoK.
