Gilgit Baltistan- Nexus of a New Asian Economic Corridor, by Senge H. Sering June 05, 2014
Both
Pakistan and India are showing signs of opening this remote area to trade and
investment.
History was made the day Pakistan’s Prime
Minister, Nawaz Sharif, flew to New Delhi to attend the swearing in of India’s
Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Both leaders are proponents of open borders and
the growth of South-Central Asia (SCA) trade. In the past, both countries have
formulated policies to promote trade corridors, whose benefit extended to
Afghanistan as well. Further, Pakistan enjoys trade relations with its other
neighbors, Iran and China. However, the last remaining regions yet to benefit
from open borders are Gilgit-Baltistan in
Pakistan and Ladakh in India.
Gilgit-Baltistan and Ladakh – with a
combined area larger than Syria – is a resource-rich landscape of multiple
ethno-linguistic heritages. Surrounded by Afghanistan, China, India and
Pakistan, this region’s strategic value has been understood for centuries as
the crossroads between east and west. The capital of Gilgit-Baltistan, Gilgit,
and the capital of Ladakh, Leh, both lie on the ancient Silk Road and have
played a role as the sole hub cities connecting Punjab, Tibet, Xinjiang and
Russia. In modern times, Gilgit-Baltistan has the potential to provide a
critical linkage between resource-rich Central Asia and the Middle East with
eager consumer markets in India and China. Further, impact studies suggest
great demand for tourism in this Himalayan area, which is renowned among
Western mountaineers and adventurers. Reviving commerce, tourism and culture
through the mountainous corridors of Gilgit-Baltistan and Ladakh will therefore
have a lasting impact on the Eurasian continent.
However, many experts have noted the
Pakistani military leadership’s continued ambivalence, despite popular demand
in Gilgit-Baltistan and Ladakh to revive links through the Skardo-Kargil,
Chorbat-Nubra, Gultari-Drass and Astore-Srinagar roads. An estimated 300,000
individuals are affected by the closure of
these roads. Locals protest the singling out of their regions for continued
economic and cultural isolation at a time when trade is opening between India
and Pakistan in the provinces of Sindh, Rajasthan, Punjab and Kashmir.
Many locals have said that the Line of
Control (LOC) dividing Gilgit-Baltistan and Ladakh is akin to the Berlin War.
They point to the U.N. United Declaration of Human Rights, which entitles every
society, through national effort and international cooperation, to economic,
social and cultural freedom. The Declaration clarifies that the state, in
accordance with its organization and its resources, must ensure each member of
its society benefits from this protection. Pakistan’s effort to open trade in
other corridors along the Indo-Pakistani border clearly shows the nation has
the means to do so, yet lacks the will to accommodate the people of
Gilgit-Baltistan.
The barriers established since 1948 have
forced locals to protest, often bringing tens of thousands of people into the
streets. On May 22 this year, thousands of people once again poured into the
streets and clashed with police, leading to 10 injured including local leader,
Syed Haider Shah, who campaigns under the banner “Open Borders Movement (OBM).”
OBM has popular support among numerous
sections of Gilgit-Baltistan, including Ladakh’s refugees residing in Pakistan.
Much like the situation between North and South Korea, multiple generations of
families have sought reunification to no avail. Sensing that a cross-LOC trade
revival is a popular household slogan in Gilgit-Baltistan, the Awami Action
Committee (AAC), a conglomerate of 22 local political parties, also adopted
this demand in its charter. In the past three months, the AAC has staged
successful sit-ins, commercial shutdowns, and large demonstrations in all seven
districts of Gilgit-Baltistan, with the intent to pressure the Pakistani
government to heed to their demands.
Sharif, in his previous tenures, made
efforts to open the Skardo-Kargil route with support from the then prime
minister of India, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He is expected to succeed this
time, in an important initiative projected to bring economic renewal to
hundreds of thousands of people. During a recent talk with Vajpayee, Sharif
expressed the desire to pick up the thread of their earlier peace dialogue from
the 1990s. One also sees light at the end of the tunnel after the BJP’s vice
president, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, whose party came to power with a landslide victory,
called the opening of the Skardo-Kargil road a regional priority. If Pakistan’s
military continues to support Sharif, then both leaders are on their way to
create an important legacy for the people of SCA, and lasting ties between the
two countries.
Senge H. Sering comes from
Gilgit-Baltistan and currently runs the Washington D.C. based Institute for
Gilgit Baltistan Studies.
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