• Suneet Mitra Pandey

Gilgit Baltistan, originally a part of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kasshmir (J&K) and later part of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) is legally an integral part of India. Gilgit Baltistan comprises 86 per cent of the total area of Pakistan occupied Kashmir. The Karakoram Highway via Gilgit Baltistan connects China with Pakistan. Till China’s was reported by the media, Gilgit Baltistan was largely absent from the regional strategic discourse, more specifically Kashmir. Even though the Kargil intrusion and the subsequent war in 1999 was launched by Pakistan from its bases across the LoC in Gilgit Baltistan, it was the reports of Chinese presence which brought this part of PoK focus. The Kashmir dispute has remained a major catalyst of militarization, open and protracted wars, extremism, and underdevelopment in South Asia. Gilgit and Baltistan’s estimated population of 1.2 million includess four denominationss of Islam-Shiite (39 percent), 2 Sunni (27 percent), Ismaili (18 percent), and Noorbakshi (16 percent) and at least twenty-four ethnic and linguistic groups.

GILGIT BALTISTAN AND REGIONAL BALANCE IN SOUTH ASIA

"GILGIT BALTISTAN AND REGIONAL BALANCE IN SOUTH ASIA", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.8, Issue 6, page no.c460-c468, June-2021, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2106336.pdf

"GILGIT BALTISTAN AND REGIONAL BALANCE IN SOUTH ASIA", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.8, Issue 6, page no. ppc460-c468, June-2021, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2106336.pdf