New Delhi, Aug 31 - India views Pakistan's decision to grant province-like status to the disputed Northern Areas with concern as it believes these areas are an integral part of Jammu and Kashmir and India.

'The Northern Areas are an integral part of Jammu and Kashmir and an integral part of India,' a senior official said here Monday.

'We view these developments with concern. We are trying to obtain more details,' the official said.

The Northern Areas, which have been renamed Gilgit-Baltistan, lie to the northwest of the Kargil region of Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan had Saturday granted 'province-like' status to Gilgit-Baltistan. It was previously a federally administered region.

'They will have autonomy and a province-like status,' Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told reporters after a meeting of the federal cabinet that approved the decision.