Ex-Pakistan defence min warns Imran: Altering Gilgit-Baltistan status will harm 'K' agenda

Pakistan's former Defence Minister Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan wrote a letter to Pakistan's Parliamentary Kashmir Committee on Thursday warning them of severe potential implications that could befall the country if it attempted to alter the constitutional status of Gilgit Baltistan. "Legitimate alarming concerns have been expressed that subsuming of G-B by Pakistan will destroy the case for self-determination of the Kashmiri people-- enshrined in the UN Security Council resolutions," said Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan. 

The Former Defence Minster added that the Kashmir Committee must be briefed on the probable consequences of subsuming G-B as a full province in Pakistan adding that the geopolitical consequences against the backdrop of the India-China standoff also needed to be discussed.

The Imran Khan-led government has decided to conduct polls in GB on November 15 and designate it as Pakistan's 5th province. This move orchestrated by Pakistan's military establishment has come under serious criticism from key opposition leaders such as Maryam Nawaz Sharif who has questioned the military's right to take such decisions when a 'democratically' elected parliament is in place. 

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Read: MEA Lambasts Pakistan's Attempt To Alter Illegally Occupied Gilgit-Baltistan's Status

MEA slams Pakistan's move

Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs has come down heavily on Pakistan's attempt to alter the legal status of Gilgit-Baltistan. Addressing the media, MEA official spokesperson Anurag Srivastava clarified that any such action by Pakistan had no legal basis. Maintaining that GB will continue to remain a part of India, he advised Pakistan not to interfere in the country's internal matters. 

MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava remarked, "We have seen the statements from Pakistani leadership and media reports in this regard. Any action by Pakistan to alter the status of militarily occupied Gilgit-Baltistan has no legal basis whatsoever and is totally void ab initio. Our position has always been clear and consistent. The entire territories of the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have been, are and would remain an integral part of India. Pakistan has no locus standi to comment on India’s internal matters." 

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