INTERNAL & EXTERNAL DYNAMICS OF GILGIT-BALTISTAN: PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES FOR CHINA PAKISTAN ECONOMIC CORRIDOR

Abstract

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is presently a subject of geopolitical and regional
security discourse. Gilgit-Baltistan is at a crossroads of the CPEC project due to its strategic
importance. However, this region has received global attention due to an international territorial
dispute over Kashmir with India, undeclared constitutional status, and sectarian conflicts that plunged
this region into a conflict zone. To examine the ambiguity of the constitutional status of GilgitBaltistan and the presence of infrastructural changes in the region, the researchers adopted the
Process Tracking method which proposes a hypothesized causal mechanism and pays attention to
changes that have taken place over time. This study finds out how the sectarian, religious, and
nationalist dynamics of Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir as a strategic constraint of the government of
Pakistan for the legal status of Gilgit-Baltistan? It also discusses growing Chinese interest, particularly
the CPEC, and Indian coercive response to this project, accentuate the Pakistani government to deal
with the Gilgit-Baltistan constitutional complaints. The study concludes that constitutional status
effects the region's ability to participate in and benefit from CPEC