Rajnath rakes up
rights violation issue in Gilgit–Baltistan
Jul 24, WASHINGTON: On
a five-day visit to the US, BJP president Rajnath Singh has raked up the issue
of human rights violations and oppression of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan in
the illegally occupied parts of Jammu and Kashmir. "India and Afghanistan have traditionally been
tied together by the Silk Route.
If India does not share a
land border of 106kms with Afghanistan
today, it is because of Pakistan's
illegal occupation of this historical part of the state of Jammu
and Kashmir since 1948," Rajnath Singh said in a keynote
address at a conference on Afghanistan
held at the Capitol Hill. "The northern regions of Gilgit and Baltistan,
whose people are subjected to massive oppression and human rights violations
today, are a gateway for India
to Central Asia with which we have had
millennia-old relations. India
should get rightful access to Central Asia through the Gilgit-Baltistan region,
with connectivity being established between Kargil in India and Skardu in Gilgit,"
Singh said.
The conference was
jointly organised by the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies;
US India Political Action Committee and American Foreign Policy Council. The
organisers had also invited Senge Sering, president of Institute of Gilgit-Baltistan
Studies, a Washington-based thinktank to the
conference. In his speech, Sering said of late China has been making undue inroads
inside Gilgit-Baltistan, Claiming that thousands of Chinese workers and
security personnel have entered the disputed region endangering the well-being
of locals and placing an extra burden on resources. It is estimated that China
will invest more than USD 30 billion in Gilgit-Baltistan in the coming years to
build dams and connect Xinjiang with Gwadar via rail and road, Sering said.
Sering said not long
ago, Gilgit-Baltistan was considered the hub of international trade, connecting
Afghanistan and Central Asia
to India
and beyond. Free movement and commerce created a culture of co-existence and
tolerance, he said. "Today, we have a choice to carry forward that
tradition or to allow a darker scenario to emerge with global security implications.
Ignoring Gilgit-Baltistan's strategic value puts the entire region on a brink
for political isolation, economic vulnerability and the growth of extremism and
authoritarianism. "The only tenable solution is to help transform
Gilgit-Baltistan from the linchpin of terror to a hub of international trade,
commerce and prosperity where all stakeholders have an incentive to maintain
free movement between South and Central Asia,"
Sering said.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
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