ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s top civil and military leaders have decided to givegreater administrative and financial authority to Azad Kashmir andGilgit-Baltistan, the region through which the controversial $50 billionChina-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passes.
During a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) — the top civiland military body — Sartaj Aziz, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission andthe Ministry of Kashmir Affairs & Gilgit-Baltistan, on Saturday briefed theCommittee on Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan reform proposals, anofficial statement said.
The meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi reviewed theseproposals and after detailed deliberations a consensus was reached on the“devolution of greater administrative authority and financial powers” tothe Azad Kashmir government and the Gilgit-Baltistan government, accordingto the statement.
The details of administrative and financial reform have not been shared sofar.
However, there was also consensus over retention of the Azad Kashmir andGilgit-Baltistan Councils as advisory bodies; and the grant of a five-yeartax holiday to Gilgit-Baltistan so as to create adequate incentives for thedevelopment of the region and bring it at par with the other areas ofPakistan.
Gilgit-Baltistan is treated as a separate geographical entity by Pakistan.Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh are four provinces ofPakistan.
India has termed as “entirely unacceptable” any possible attempt byPakistan to declare the Gilgit-Baltistan region, bordering the disputedPakistan-occupied Kashmir, as the fifth province. India has protested toChina over the CPEC which goes through Gilgit-Baltistan region.
It is believed that China’s concerns about the unsettled status ofGilgit-Baltistan prompted Pakistan to change its status.
Earlier media reports had said that Pakistan plans to elevate theconstitutional status of the region to provide legal cover to the CPEC.
The NSC also endorsed that FATA shall be merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwaalong with the introduction of the administrative and judicialinstitutional structures and laws of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the statement said.
The Committee directed the concerned ministries to work out theconstitutional, legal and administrative modalities for the merger inconsultation with all parties in the Parliament.
The meeting was attended by Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Minister forDefence & Foreign Affairs Khurram Dastgir Khan, Chairman Joint Chiefs ofStaff Committee Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat, Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa,Chief of Naval and Air forces, ISI chief and other senior civil andmilitary officials.