Kashmiri separatists warn Pakistan against any move to 'annex' Gilgit-Baltistan

New Delhi: Kashmiri separatist leaders on Friday warned Pakistan against any proposal to make the Gilgit-Baltistan region as one of its territorial states.

In a joint statement, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Farooq and Yasin Malik have said that the Gilgit-Baltistan region is a part of Kashmir and any move to make it as the fifth state of Pakistan is fraught with danger.

They said Kashmir, Ladakh, Jammu, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan are a single entity.

Earlier on Thursday, the Hurriyat leaders were arrested after they tried to stage a protest in Kashmir.

The three were scheduled to hold a joint press conference at Geelani's residence for which the authorities denied them permission.

The separatist leaders were taken into preventive custody and shifted to the Humhama police station in Badgam district.