Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, June 9: Chief patron of J&K National Panthers Party and Member National Integration Council Prof Bhim Singh today said that Modi Govt at the Centre is either ignorant or bluffing the nation on the status of Gilgit-Baltistan.
While speaking to the members of State Legal Aid Committee in a function here this afternoon Prof Singh said, “The Gilgit-Baltistan region comprising of nearly 32,000 sq miles of Indian territory which was integral part of the J&K till 1947 when J&K acceded to the Union of India was illegally occupied by Pakistan after the ceasefire ordered by the Security Council of the United Nations in January 1948 vis-à-vis India and Pakistan.”
Prof Singh, who is also a senior jurist and expert on international relations wondered why India did not or could not expose the aggressive designs when Pakistan refused to implement UN Resolution dated August 13, 1948. He said India also failed to inform the international community and protest against Karachi Agreement between Pakistan and China as the agreement ceded 4600 sq miles of Indian territory in Karakoram (Gilgit-Baltistan) to China on a lease of 99 years. China had since built 60 defence helipads on the Highway connecting Beijing (China) with Peshawar (Pakistan) threatening the security of India and peace in the sub-continent.
Prof Bhim Singh expressed surprise that Modi Government in India has no knowledge about the de-facto status of Gilgit-Baltistan which was integral part of J&K (India) and under illegal occupation of Pakistan as determined by UN Resolution. The UN had directed Pakistan to withdraw its armed forces from all the occupied areas including Gilgit-Baltistan and the so-called ‘Azad Kashmir’. Pakistan defied these resolutions and directions of the United Nations in the same way as Israel dared defy UN Resolution vis-à-vis Palestine.
The NPP supremo said either Modi Government is ignorant or trying to bluff the people at home and outside about the status of Gilgit and Baltistan. He said it was on November 29, 2009 when Pakistan promulgated an ordinance declaring entire Gilgit-Baltistan region as 6th province of Pakistan. Pakistan held elections to the 24 Assembly seats in 2010. The entire world knows about it. The new map of Pakistan has clearly showed Gilgit-Baltistan as ‘integral’ part of Pakistan.
Lodging a protest to Pakistan holding Assembly elections in Gilgit-Baltistan six years after its illegal merger with Pakistan shows how ignorant was the Indian leadership in Delhi and why all the national political parties remained silent on the issue. He said that even today Indian leadership is not asking Pakistan to withdraw from Gilgit-Baltistan but just protesting over holding Assembly elections in Gilgit. It is amazing that the Indian leadership kept quiet and silent.
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel