Protests in Gilgit-Balistan over secret land deals with China

TIL Desk/World/Islamabad/ Pakistan is surreptitiously leasing out the Upper Hunza Valley to China in the near future to ease its mounting debt burden from the Chinese investment in the now increasingly burdensome China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

The move, which is likely to allow the Chinese to mine the mineral-rich area of Gilgit Baltistan rampantly, has triggered another wave of protests and violence by the local communities.

In fact, the clash between the local population and the Pakistan Army has increased considerably in the past few weeks with the locals throwing stones at officers and their vehicles in Skardu.

Late last month, the Pakistan Army soldiers beat up the Gilgit Baltistan Tourism Minister and Health Minister for standing up to fight for the local community which had been protesting against the army’s takeover of Skardu Road.