• Says Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly resolution addresses concerns by safeguarding UN resolutions on Kashmir
• Stresses Pakistan and Kashmir freedom movement remain its red lines
GILGIT: The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC-AJK), Azad Jammu and Kashmir chapter, on Saturday announced its support for granting provisional provincial status to Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), saying the move would not affect the Kashmir dispute.
Addressing a press conference at the Gilgit Press Club, APHC-AJK Convener Ghulam Muhammad Safi, General Secretary Parvaiz Shah, along with local political leaders from various organisations, said the conference would not oppose granting GB provisional provincial status as long as it did not prejudice the Kashmir issue.
Referring to a resolution recently passed unanimously by the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly seeking provisional provincial status for the region, Mr Shah said the APHC endorsed the demand.
“When the resolution was passed recently, we read it carefully and examined it in detail. It contains a sentence stating: ‘without prejudice to the United Nations resolutions on the Kashmir issue’. After reading that, we felt reassured and satisfied,” he said.
He said the Kashmir freedom movement and Pakistan were the APHC’s red lines and it would never compromise on them.
Speaking on the occasion, APHC-AJK Convener Ghulam Muhammad Safi said the people of Gilgit-Baltistan had the same right to participate in a plebiscite as the people of India-held Kashmir and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
“However, the people of GB should not be punished because of the Kashmir dispute. Until the Kashmir issue is resolved in accordance with the United Nations resolutions, the people here should be granted even greater rights than those they currently enjoy,” he said.
Mr Shah said the more prosperous the region became, the more attractive it would be for the people of India-occupied Kashmir.
“The greater the peace and prosperity here, the more it will associate Pakistan with progress and development,” he added.
He further said the Kashmir dispute remained unresolved, adding that India’s claim that Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India was “false and deceptive”.
“The people of (occupied) Jammu and Kashmir have still not been given the opportunity to decide their own future,” he said.
Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2026