Political Map Strategey

Contrary to Indian claims, all these territories have been part of

Pakistan’s map ever since the dispute erupted after the Indian
forces occupied two-third of Jummu and Kashmir in the
armless infancy of Pakistan. Now, Pakistan only affirmed its
principled position on self-determination for Kashmiris
according to the UN Resolutions dusting in the shelves. While
India has termed it a ‘political absurdity’, I believe this move
would ring the high alert alarm on the multilateral and global
forums. If priority is not attached to the Kashmir issue now, the
international community would have to regret for ages.
Undoubtedly, the new political map has strengthened Pakistan’s
claim over all parts of the erstwhile territory of the State of Jammu
and Kashmir. Pakistan has now extended its international border
eastwards along the border between Indian Occupied Jummu and
Kashmir (IOJK) and India. It leaves the Line of Actual Control
(LAC) as undefined territory subject to the settlement of the
Kashmir dispute under UN resolutions. It formally extends the
LOC to Karakoram Pass as per our stand under the Karachi
Agreement and WB is shown to demonstrate territory where India
is illegally occupying territory.
In the new political map, Pakistan has also maintained its
principled position on Sir Creek according to Sindh Government
agreement with the State of Kutch in 1914 demarcating the
boundary on the Eastern Bank of the Sir Creek securing our claim
on all the waters of the Creek and the Exclusive Economic Zone
(EEZ). An Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is a concept adopted
at the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea
(1982), whereby a coastal State assumes jurisdiction over the
exploration and exploitation of marine resources in its adjacent
section of the continental shelf, taken to be a band extending 200
nautical miles.
Pakistan has formally shown the boundary between Gilgit-
Baltistan and Azad Jummu and Kashmir leaving their eastern
borders open, which will be finalized on the settlement of the
Kashmir dispute under the UN resolutions. The new map also
reinforced Pakistan’s claim on Junagadh and Manavadar. Both
territories were illegally occupied by India.
Fine, it’s done. A bold step is taken after a long time. But what
next? What reaction Pakistan could expect from the world as
individual countries? How do the UNSC members take it? If
Pakistan has the capacity to get sufficient support in the UNSC?
Most importantly, what would be Pakistan’s strategic plan to
translate the new political map into a reality on ground? And even,
if Pakistan has the resources, skills and capacity to do it? These are
vital questions that need clarity sooner than later.
Guts to develop a cluster of global community on the Kashmir
issue and consistently engaging them on is a long term
commitment. Who will be ensuring a dynamic and vigorous cluster
development of the global community in Pakistan’s politically
volatile environment and the engagement of state institutions in it?
Strategic depth of the planning; engagement of right stakeholders; wider, consistent and principled
communication; reaching out to global leaders and influencers could be some of the urgent action points
for Pakistan
The first challenge has already emerged on the global scene and
that is the Indian claim that “Pakistan’s issuance of a new map,
which includes much of Kashmir and Junagadh, ……… [and it is]
….. For the first time, a Pakistani map includes Gilgit-Baltistan as
part of ‘Kashmir’, something that India has been claiming since the
beginning of the dispute. That’s peculiar, to say the least, and may
just mean an opportunity for India if played right.”
Secondly, Pakistan needs to review if it would be in its best
interest to attach the strategic importance of the Kashmir dispute to
the strategic interests of China in the region. The Indian media is
quoting from a recent interview of veteran Pakistani politician and
former foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri saying, “[the] ‘reckless
statements’ by India on reclaiming Pakistan-occupied Kashmir
(PoK) as the reason for Chinese aggravation at Ladakh. The
possibility that Pakistan has Beijing’s blessings in producing the
map is, therefore, entirely likely, especially given similar border
claims by Nepal recently. The trick, however, is to turn all these
calculations on their head by using this map in negotiation-
counters to solidify India’s claim to the whole of Kashmir,
including Gilgit-Baltistan.”
Thirdly, Pakistan has to face Indian ‘propaganda’ on the status of
Gilgit-Baltistan as well. Ever since it is miscommunicated that
Pakistan’s northern parts were not independent states but annexed
to Hari Singh’s State of Kashmir. “This area, abutting Afghanistan,
China, and then-Soviet Union, was strategic enough for the British
to become part of the ‘Great Game’. The newly formed Pakistan
was quick to realise this, and it secretly signed the Karachi
Agreement of 1949, which took a small rump of area to create the
‘Azad Kashmir’, with some 75 per cent of an estimated 78,000 sq
km territory innocuously called the ‘Northern Areas’. Decades
later, Pakistan renamed it Gilgit-Baltistan. Even today, Gilgit-
Baltistan remains in a legal limbo. The Constitution of Pakistan
doesn’t identify it as a ‘territory’, and it is also excluded from the
section on fundamental rights and definition of the State. That
translates into no rights, barring what Islamabad grants the
residents of Gilgit-Baltistan from time to time; they carry Pakistani
passports but can’t vote in national elections.”
S0, very intense and inclusive homework is ahead. Strategic depth
of the planning; engagement of right stakeholders; wider,
consistent and principled communication; reaching out to global
leaders and influencers could be some of the urgent action points
for Pakistan.
The writer is a freelance journalist and Director Devcom-
Pakistan, a policy advocacy and outreach think tank in Islamabad.
His email: devcom.pakistan@gmail.com Twitter Handle:
@EmmayeSyed