GILGIT: Five members of the Gilgit-Baltistan cabinet took the oath of office on Wednesday.
GB Governor Syed Mehdi Shah administered the oath at an oath-taking ceremony held in Governor House, Gilgit.
Four cabinet members from Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP), Dilpazeer Khan, Aman Ali, Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Anwar and Syed Tugeer Mahdi from the PPP took oath of office.
Seven members of the GB cabinet have already taken the oath of office and assumed their responsibilities.
Meanwhile, the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly on Wednesday unanimously passed a resolution condemning India’s uni-lateral actions in Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
The resolution expressed complete solidarity with the people of occupied Kashmir and reiterated its strong support for Kashmiris’ right to self-determination.
The resolution was approved at a special session of the GB Assembly, chaired by GB Assembly Speaker Imran Nadeem Shigri.
PPP’s Subiya Muqaddam tabled the resolution. Through it, the GB Assembly condemned the Government of India’s unilateral abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A of its Constitution, along with attempts to alter the special constitutional status of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, and termed the Indian government move a matter of grave concern.
The assembly reiterated that Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally recognised disputed territory, whose final status must be determined in accordance with the United Nations Security Council resolutions, through a free, impar-tial, and internationally supervised plebiscite that allows the people of Jammu and Kashmir to exercise their right to selfdetermination.
The resolution said the GB Assembly does not consider the Kashmir dispute as merely a border issue, but a fundamental question concerning the basic,natural,andinalienable right of self-determination of the people of Kashmir.
The resolution expressed deep concern over India’s actions of 5 August 2019, including the revocation of Articles 370 and 35A and attempts to change the demographic composition of the territory and said these Indian steps are contrary to international law, UN resolutions, and the right to self-determination of the people of Kashmir.
‘Such measures cannot alter the internationally recognised disputed status of Jammu and Kashmir and are viewed as attempts to undermine the Kashmiri people’s right to determine their own future, it said.