Syed Ali Shah Geelani opposes Pakistan's move to merge Gilgit-Baltistan with it

After JKLF, hardline Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on Wednesday opposed Pakistan's moves to merge Gilgit-Baltistan with the country, saying it has no constitutional or moral "justification" to do so and that any such step will be "betrayal" with Kashmiris.

"There are no constitutional as well as moral justification in making any decision over any part of this territory without the consent of its people and it is also clear violation of the UN resolutions on Kashmir," the separatist leader said in a statement after media reports suggested possible change in the constitutional position of Gilgit-Baltistan.

"No such action will be acceptable to the Kashmiri people...It will be a betrayal with them," Geelani said.

According to media reports, Pakistan is considering changing the constitutional status of Gilgit-Baltistan in view of the China-Pakistan economic corridor. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is to chair a meeting tomorrow to deliberate on the issue.

Geelani said Hurriyat was not against the economic development and prosperity of the South-Asian region but creating trade routes at the cost of rights, interests, wishes and sacrifices of Kashmiri nation is "injustice and unkind".

On Tuesday, separatist JKLF chief Yasin Malik wrote a letter to Sharif, opposing moves to merge Gilgit-Baltistan with Pakistan, saying it has "no moral authority" to make a policy that "will adversely affect the future of millions of Kashmiris". He had asked Sharif to "stay away from such a course of action".