<p>Pakistan is planning to declare the strategic Gilgit-Baltistan region as the fifth province, a move that may raise concerns in India as it borders the disputed Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.<br /><br />Pakistan's minister for inter-provincial coordination Riaz Hussain Pirzada told Geo TV that a committee headed by Advisor of Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz had proposed giving the status of a province to Gilgit-Baltistan. "The committee recommended that Gilgit-Baltistan should be made a province of Pakistan," Pirzada said yesterday.<br /><br />He also said that a constitutional amendment would be made to change the status of the region, through which the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passes.<br /><br />Gilgit-Baltistan is treated as a separate geographical entity by Pakistan. It has a regional assembly and an elected Chief Minister.<br /><br />Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh are four provinces of Pakistan.<br />The move may raise concerns in India as the disputed region borders Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).<br /><br />It is believed that China's concerns about the unsettled status of Gilgit-Baltistan prompted Pakistan to change its status. According to an earlier report in Dawn newspaper, Pakistan was mulling to elevate the constitutional status of the region in a bid to provide legal cover to the CPEC.<br /><br />The move could signal a historic shift in the country's position on the future of the wider Kashmir region, the paper had quoted experts as saying.</p>
<p>Pakistan is planning to declare the strategic Gilgit-Baltistan region as the fifth province, a move that may raise concerns in India as it borders the disputed Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.<br /><br />Pakistan's minister for inter-provincial coordination Riaz Hussain Pirzada told Geo TV that a committee headed by Advisor of Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz had proposed giving the status of a province to Gilgit-Baltistan. "The committee recommended that Gilgit-Baltistan should be made a province of Pakistan," Pirzada said yesterday.<br /><br />He also said that a constitutional amendment would be made to change the status of the region, through which the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) passes.<br /><br />Gilgit-Baltistan is treated as a separate geographical entity by Pakistan. It has a regional assembly and an elected Chief Minister.<br /><br />Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Sindh are four provinces of Pakistan.<br />The move may raise concerns in India as the disputed region borders Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).<br /><br />It is believed that China's concerns about the unsettled status of Gilgit-Baltistan prompted Pakistan to change its status. According to an earlier report in Dawn newspaper, Pakistan was mulling to elevate the constitutional status of the region in a bid to provide legal cover to the CPEC.<br /><br />The move could signal a historic shift in the country's position on the future of the wider Kashmir region, the paper had quoted experts as saying.</p>