Mobile int­er­net services suspended in Gilgit-Baltistan

Mobile int­er­net services suspended in Gilgit-Baltistan

Subject: IR

Section: Places in news

Context: Mobile int­er­net services suspended in Gilgit-Baltistan amid sectarian tensions.

More about the news:

• The tensions in the region flared up on Friday, triggered by protests in Gilgit and surrounding areas, called for by a Shia group.
• These protests were in response to alleged derogatory remarks made by a prominent Sunni cleric during a separate demonstration in Gilgit.
• Mobile internet services have been suspended across the region until further notice.
• An FIR has been registered against the Sunni cleric at the City Police Station Gilgit for his comments.

More details about Gilgit Baltistan:

• Gilgit-Baltistan is one of the disputed territories of India.
• Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) was formerly known as the Northern Areas.
• It is the northernmost territory administered by Pakistan, providing the country’s only territorial frontier, and thus a land route, with China, where it meets the Xinjiang Autonomous Region.
• It borders PoK to the south, the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west, the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan to the north, the Xinjiang region of China, to the east and northeast, and the Indian-administered union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to the southeast.
• Its largest city is Skardu and Capital is Gilgit.
• China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) also passes through this region.
• Gilgit-Baltistan is home to five of the “eight-thousanders” and to more than fifty peaks above 7,000 metres (23,000 ft).
• K2, the second highest mountain peak of the world is located here.
• Three of the world’s longest glaciers outside the polar regions are found in Gilgit-Baltistan i.e Biafo Glacier, Baltoro Glacier, and Batura Glacier.

History of Gilgit Baltistan:

• During the first Indo-Pak war of October 1947, Pakistan occupied 78,114 sq km of the land of Jammu and Kashmir, including the ‘Northern Areas’. The Northern Areas is the other name of Gilgit-Baltistan that Pakistan has used for administrative reasons because it was a disputed territory.

Some more details:

• The region is known for high altitude dams because of both local and Islamabad-driven initiatives. Mountain streams and rivers are often harvested for local community needs. The tradition of building dams and bunds dates back to the reign of Balti King Ali Sher Khan Anchan of 1580-1624, who built the famous bund at Satpara Lake, which helps in watering Skardu. The water-rich region’s biggest hydroelectricity project is the Diamer-Bhasha dam, which was launched in July 2020.
• India has objected to the use of Gilgit-Baltistan to build and operate the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which cuts through the region before heading to the Arabian Sea coastline of Balochistan’s Gwadar port.
• Gilgit-Baltistan is important for Pakistan as it is the gateway for the CPEC. But for India, the region represents the continuity with the past of Jammu and Kashmir, which included Gilgit-Baltistan at the time of Partition of 1947. Significantly, the ongoing stand-off with China at the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh has a Gilgit-Baltistan connection as the Darbuk-Shyok-DBO road of India is viewed as a tactical roadway to access the Karakoram Pass, which provides China crucial access to Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan.