PoK and Gilgit Baltistan, parts of J&K under Pakistan occupation

GS-II: PoK and Gilgit Baltistan, parts of J&K under Pakistan occupation

News

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said this week that “we expect one day we will have physical jurisdiction” over Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Supporting regulation

A resolution unanimously adopted by Parliament on February 22, 1994 affirmed that “the State of Jammu & Kashmir has been, is and shall be an integral part of India.
It demanded that Pakistan must vacate the areas of the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir, which they have occupied through aggression.
PoK and GB are both part of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, which is an integral part of India by virtue of its accession to India in 1947.

The PoK:

Pakistan Occupied Kashmir is an area of 13,297 sq km, which was under the control of the Pakistani forces when the ceasefire line came into effect on January 1, 1949.
That was after a 14-month period of hostilities between India and Pakistan, which began with an invasion of Kashmir by Pashtun tribesmen, and later its Army, to seize Kashmir.
In 1963, through an agreement, Pakistan ceded to China over 5,000 sq km of J&K land under its control, in the Shaksgam area, in northern Kashmir, beyond the Karakoram.

And what is Gilgit Baltistan?

This is a picturesque, hilly region to the north of PoK and east of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The British sold it, along with the rest of Jammu and Kashmir, to the Dogra ruler of Jammu, Gulab Singh, after defeating the Sikh army in 1846.
However they retained controlled over the area through a lease extracted from the Maharaja.This lease was last renewed in 1935.
In 1947, a British army officer of the rank of Colonel imprisoned Maharaja Hari Singh’s governor in the region, and handed over the area for accession to Pakistan.
Gilgit Baltistan (GB) is spread over 72,871 sq km, and is five-and-a-half times the size of PoK. But it is sparsely populated, with just under 20 lakh people.
GB is divided into three administrative divisions and 10 districts.

What is the administrative status in Gilgit Baltistan?

Though both PoK and GB are ruled directly from Islamabad, neither is officially listed as the territory of Pakistan.
Pak has just four provinces: Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (which now includes the Federally Administered Tribal areas or FATA), Balochistan, and Sindh.
PoK and Gilit Baltistan are both “autonomous territories”.
Pakistan has kept this fiction going, as incorporating these areas into its map would damage its international position in the UN and elsewhere that the entire Jammu and Kashmir is “disputed”.

Source: Indian Express

Join Our Telegram

US Resumes Nuclear Weapon Testing

Formation Day

03 Dec, 25
SHARE

On 1st November, eight Indian states—Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu—along with five Union Territories—Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Delhi, Lakshadweep, and Puducherry—celebrate their Formation Day. This date marks an important milestone in India

Turtle (Kachhua) Wildlife Sanctuary

02 Dec, 25
SHARE

The Turtle Wildlife Sanctuary, also known as the Kachhua Sanctuary, is located in the Varanasi district of Uttar Pradesh. It is recognised as India’s first freshwater turtle wildlife sanctuary, established to conserve endangered turtle species and support the ecological health of the Ganga River. Location and Extent The sanctuary co

Introduction of AI and Computational Thinking (CT) in

02 Dec, 25
SHARE

The Ministry of Education plans to introduce Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Computational Thinking (CT) from Class 3 onwards in the 2026–27 academic year. This initiative is part of the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023 and aligns with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The aim is to prepare student

Sal Tree

02 Dec, 25
SHARE

Scientists from the Environment Department of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) in Shimla have recently revealed that the Sal tree (Shorea robusta) is the most effective natural air purifier for combating rising pollution levels. Their findings highlight the tree’s superior capacity to trap dust, absorb gases, and cleanse the air compared

US Resumes Nuclear Weapon Testing

02 Dec, 25
SHARE

The President of the United States has ordered the resumption of nuclear weapon testing after a gap of 33 years, the last test being in 1992. This decision marks a significant shift in global nuclear policy and has far-reaching implications for geopolitics, the environment, and international security. Status of Global Nuclear Weapon Testing