India will now forecast the weather in crop-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan

New Delhi, 7 May 2020 Thursday

India and Pakistan have clashed many times over the Gilgit-Baltistan region, each time with Pakistan retreating.

Pakistan's Supreme Court has recently ordered a general election in the region, which India has described as a "catastrophe", while the meteorological department has taken some steps that could add to Pakistan's woes.

In fact, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has linked Gilgit-Baltistan with the area in its weather forecast for northwest India, showing it as part of the Jammu and Kashmir sub-division.

The forecast issued by IMD for Northwest India also includes Gilgit-Baltistan and Muzaffarabad. That is, the weather in the area from May 7 to May 10, the information has been given.

Kuldip Srivastava, president of the Regional Meteorological Center, said the Indian Meteorological Department has also started forecasting for Gilgit-Baltistan and Muzaffarabad, a Pakistan-occupied area.

The forecast is being issued from May 5 under the Jammu and Kashmir Weather Science Sub-Division. The move is significant because India recently made it clear that Gilgit-Baltistan is part of it, and Pakistan should vacate it immediately.

History of Gilgit-Baltistan

Pakistan has been treating the area as part of the disputed Kashmir since the Karachi Agreement in 1949, before it was part of the Dogra Empire, which later leased it to Britain. The British wanted the area as a safety valve.

Although Pakistan controlled the area, it was not made part of the crop, at one time the US wanted to come to Gilgit, Russia also promised Pakistan to build a base in Gilgit, today China has its eye on Gilgit.