India protests Pakistan move to hold polls in disputed region

India on Tuesday lodged strong protest against the Pakistan government, stating that Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including Gilgit and Baltistan, are an integral part of India. The Government of Pakistan has no locus standi on territories illegally and forcibly occupied by it, the Ministry of External Affairs statement said.

New Delhi: India on Tuesday strongly opposed Pakistan's move in pertaining to the announcement of elections to the so-called Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly slated to be held on November 15 this year.

India reiterated its strong stand that the entire Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including the areas of so-called Gilgit and Baltistan are an integral part of India by virtue of its accession in 1947. The Government of Pakistan has no locus standi on territories illegally and forcibly occupied by it, the Ministry of External Affairs statement said.

New Delhi has also completely rejected recent actions such as the so-called "Gilgit-Baltistan (Elections and Caretaker Government) Amendment Order 2020” and continued attempts by the Pakistan establishment to bring material changes in areas under its illegal and forcible occupation, the statement further said.

Actions such as these can neither hide the illegal occupation of parts of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh by Pakistan nor the grave human rights violations, exploitation and denial of freedom to the people residing in Pakistan occupied territories for the past seven decades. These are cosmetic exercises intended to camouflage its illegal occupation, it added.

India has further called upon Pakistan to immediately vacate all areas under its illegal occupation.

India had maintained several times that Gilgit Baltistan is a part of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and has conveyed its strong protest to Pakistan several times for its efforts to bring "material change" to the territories under its "illegal and forcible" occupation.

In April this year, the Pakistan Supreme Court had allowed the Imran Khan government to amend a 2018 administrative order to conduct general elections in the region, evoking a sharp reaction from India.

The two countries have sparred several times in recent weeks on the status of Gilgit-Baltistan, part of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, and raised the issue at international bodies like the UN.