Key Terms & Concepts — UPSC Mains
Gilgit-Baltistan
"A region of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir that India holds to be an integral and inalienable part of its territory"
Gilgit-Baltistan is a mountainous region in the north of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, currently under Pakistan's illegal occupation as part of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK). The Government of India's consistent and unambiguous position is that the entire Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including the areas of Gilgit-Baltistan, are an integral and inalienable part of India by virtue of the complete, legal and irrevocable accession of Jammu and Kashmir in 1947, and that Pakistan must vacate the territory it illegally occupies.
In June 2026, India's Ministry of External Affairs protested Pakistan's planned elections in Gilgit-Baltistan, reaffirming its sovereignty. UPSC tests it under GS2 (India-Pakistan and India-China relations, territorial integrity). The region is strategically central because the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship of China's Belt and Road Initiative, passes through it, which is why India objects to CPEC on sovereignty grounds.
- 1 Part of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK); the Government of India holds it to be an integral and inalienable part of India
- 2 India's claim is legally grounded in the complete, irrevocable accession of Jammu and Kashmir through the Instrument of Accession in 1947
- 3 India's settled position is that Pakistan must vacate all the Indian territory it is illegally occupying
- 4 India rejects any attempt by Pakistan to make material changes there, including elections, as they have no legal validity and do not alter the territory's status as part of India
- 5 India also raises the denial of fundamental rights and the exploitation of the people of the region under Pakistan's illegal occupation
- 6 The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passes through Gilgit-Baltistan; India objects to CPEC and stays out of the Belt and Road Initiative on sovereignty grounds
- 7 Borders China's Xinjiang; of high strategic and connectivity significance
