NOVEMBER 1 AND BEYOND: UNLOCKING GILGIT-BALTISTAN’S STRATEGIC FUTURE WITH PAKISTAN
(Laiba Shabbir)
Geography shapes the fortunes of regions as much as policy does. Gilgit-Baltistan makes up 8.22 percent of Pakistan’s territory, at the point where China’s Xinjiang, Afghanistan’s Wakhan Corridor and Indian-administered Kashmir meet, and about 1.7 million people live there. On November 1 they will mark 79 years since they rose against Dogra rule and set out to unite with Pakistan. Four dimensions explain why the region matters today: the history of 1947, a geography of water and mountain passes, mineral and hydropower resources, and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) with its Moqpondass industrial zone. Together they warrant a closer look.
November 1, 1947, The Day Gilgit-Baltistan Chose Pakistan: Every year on November 1, the people of Gilgit-Baltistan remember the day they rose against Dogra rule and set out to join Pakistan. The events behind that day go back to the British period.
Prof. Saeed Ahmad, in his book The Gilgit-Baltistan Conundrum: Dilemmas of Political Integration, traces the region’s importance to its position near China and Russia. In 1947, only two weeks before independence, the British cancelled their lease of Gilgit and handed the area back to Maharaja Hari Singh of Kashmir. In July 1947, Brigadier Ghansara Singh was posted to Gilgit as the Maharaja’s governor, with orders to re-establish the Maharaja’s control over the area. Discontent with Dogra rule was growing among local people, and Gilgit was fast becoming a centre of political unrest. That unrest was the start of the rebellion of 1947.
What set it off was Maharaja Hari Singh’s decision to accede to India, which went against the wishes of Gilgit’s people. The Gilgit Scouts and local residents organised the resistance, with the aim of ending Dogra control.
In November 1947, Gilgit itself rose in a major rebellion against Dogra rule. The people and the Gilgit Scouts besieged the residence of Brigadier Ghansara Singh, the Maharaja’s governor. Facing fierce resistance, he surrendered. Pakistan’s flag was then raised over Gilgit’s buildings, a sign of the region’s unity with Pakistan and the end of Dogra rule. The uprising became a landmark in the history of Gilgit-Baltistan, because it paved the way for the area’s close ties with Pakistan during the chaos of partition.
Eighty-six soldiers gave their lives in the war of liberation. Their sacrifice remains a milestone in the military history of Gilgit-Baltistan, and their example still inspires later generations to value freedom and self-rule.
Gilgit Baltistan Geography, the water tank and the window to China: The region holds 5 of the world’s 14 peaks above 8,000 metres, about 5,100 glaciers covering 12 percent of its area, and 33 rivers that mostly drain into the Indus basin. Those rivers carry the water that Pakistan’s farms and power stations depend on downstream, and the Karakoram Highway carries the trade that links Pakistan to Xinjiang. Both flow in one direction, towards Pakistan.
Travel shows how far connectivity has come. Before 1947 the journey from Skardu to Gilgit took 14 days and from Gilgit to Rawalpindi 30. By road today they take about four hours and under ten.
More links are on the way. The Shandur Road to Chitral was reported nearly complete in 2026, and the Juglot–Skardu Road now serves Baltistan. A Chilas–Mansehra Expressway, a Shounter Pass Road to AJK and all-weather access through Babusar Pass, the realignment of KKH 2027, are planned and Skardu International Airport already receives flights.
Beneath the Peaks, Mineral Wealth Pakistan Is Yet to Unlock: The mountains of Gilgit-Baltistan hold a wide mix of minerals. Aquamarine, emerald, ruby, topaz, tourmaline, spinel and peridot have been reported in the valleys of Shigar, Skardu, Hunza and Haramosh, and placer gold and silver turn up in the Indus and Gilgit rivers. Copper, lead, zinc, iron, antimony and tungsten are found in Ishkoman, Chalt, Yasin and Nagar. There are also plenty of industrial minerals, among them mica, feldspar, nephrite, soapstone, limestone and coal.
Gilgit Baltistan report on minerals puts the total at about $1 trillion. That is a big number, and for a country short of export earnings and raw material for industry it deserves a proper check. So far that check is missing. The region has around 2,000 mineral localities, with gold in 97 of them.
Diamer – Bhasha and the Dams that Can Power Pakistan: Estimates put the region’s hydropower potential at 40,000 MW. Indus cascade projects named in that estimate include Skardu (1,200 MW), Tangus (2,200 MW), Yulbo (2,800 MW), Bunji (7,100 MW), Diamer-Bhasha (4,500 MW) and Dasu (4,320 MW). Diamer-Bhasha is the best known. It is a component of CPEC Phase II on the Indus River, with planned generation of 4,500 MW and a role as a major water reservoir. Rs. 78 billion allocations for local uplift have been reported alongside the project.
Smaller projects are meant to ease local shortages sooner. A winter shortfall of over 360 MW was reported in 2025. Naltar-III (16 MW, then 80 percent complete), the upgraded Hanzel project (40 MW) and the Attabad plant (54 MW) were expected to reduce outages in Gilgit and Hunza. Harpo (34.5 MW), Ghowari (34 MW), a planned 100 MW solar initiative and a proposed regional grid by 2027 were to follow. Land acquisition delays, legal complications and bureaucratic inefficiencies are the reported causes of slippage.
CPEC and Moqpondass, Where the Highway Meets Industry: The Karakoram Highway, 427 km of which lies inside Gilgit-Baltistan, follows an old Silk Route artery and is the main road link of CPEC. The proposed Moqpondass Special Economic Zone builds on it. Sost Dry Port, on the same route, was reported open year-round, with over 1,200 vehicles and $95 million worth of goods moved in a few months of 2025. The proposed Moqpondass Special Economic Zone builds on this corridor.
The zone is now being set up with the support of the Special Investment Facilitation Council, on 250 acres under a public-private partnership. It is expected to bring investment and jobs in agriculture, minerals, handicrafts and wood products, and direct access to Chinese markets should help.
CPEC planning documents list marble, granite, iron ore processing, fruit processing, steel, mineral processing and leather. Local reports add a dry fruit unit, gemstone work, furniture and wood carving, herbs and medicine production, and trout processing. These lists come from planning-stage material, and the final mix of industries will depend on investors.
The site lies on the Gilgit-Skardu Road, four kilometres from the CPEC route and about 35 kilometres from the nearest airport. The Sost Dry Port is roughly 200 kilometres away.
Seventy-Nine Years Together, What the Bond with Pakistan Has Built: In 1947 Gilgit-Baltistan had no paved roads and two middle schools, one in Gilgit and one in Skardu. Today it has 1,309 km of paved roads, including the 427 km of the Karakoram Highway, along with 3,000 public educational institutions and 1,200 private schools and colleges. Two universities operate, in Gilgit and Skardu, and more than 150 PhD holders and over 500 doctoral students come from the region. The two universities, Karakoram International University (KIU) and the University of Baltistan (UoB), were reported to receive federal grants of Rs. 1.4 billion and Rs. 400 million a year respectively. Engineering colleges, vocational centres, cadet colleges, Army Public Schools, Danish schools and SCO-run IT parks add to the options, and many young people now work as freelancers.
Health services have expanded as well. The list includes a cardiac hospital in Gilgit, the GINOR cancer treatment centre, mobile health units and a hepatitis eradication initiative, and a new medical college is earmarked for Skardu. The federal government has also subsidised wheat for the region since 1971.
About 70 percent of residents are under 35. They are the workforce that the Moqpondass zone, the dams and the tourism sector will need, and many already study in universities across Pakistan. Tourism is already the region’s best-known industry: the 2025 article reported nearly a million local and over 200,000 foreign visitors the year before, and a Vision 2025 aim of $1 billion in annual tourism revenue and 10,000 jobs. The federal Economic Transformation Initiative, a Rs. 27.36 billion package, targets agriculture, infrastructure and rural economies.
The region’s constitutional position has moved in stages as well. It came under direct federal rule in 1950 and was set up as Northern Areas in 1970. A presidential order in 2009 made it an administrative province, and the Gilgit-Baltistan Order 2018 widened the powers of its assembly
The Future of Gilgit-Baltistan Is Pakistan’s Future: The case for that future starts with the choice made in 1947, when the people rose against the Maharaja’s decision to join India and raised Pakistan’s flag over Gilgit.9 Seventy-nine years later the geography points the same way. The Indus carries the region’s water to Pakistan’s plains, the Karakoram Highway carries its traffic to Rawalpindi and beyond, and the corridor that gives it a place in the world economy is a Pakistani project. Through Pakistan, Gilgit-Baltistan becomes the country’s gateway for trade, power and opportunity. In practical terms, the future looks like this. A geological survey would turn an estimate into a mining plan. Diamer-Bhasha and the dams that follow would supply electricity and water storage to the whole country. The Moqpondass zone would give local young people factory and workshop jobs close to home, instead of forcing them to leave. Tourism, already the region’s best-known industry, would grow with better roads and airports. Each of these gains depends on the link with Pakistan, and each strengthens it.
Pakistan must now address the sentimental and the popular demand of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan that is to grant Gilgit-Baltistan permanent status as the country’s fifth province. Such a step would give its people representation in the National Assembly, the Senate and the federal bodies, and allow them to present their demands and decisions at both the national and the international level.
As a province, Gilgit-Baltistan would receive its share in the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award. As an autonomous province and a taxpaying member of the federation, it would also enjoy the same rights as the other provinces.
The challenge is to make sure that Gilgit-Baltistan’s strategic importance remains an asset for its people and for Pakistan, and that the benefits reach the valleys.