New Delhi: India has lodged a strong protest with Pakistan regarding its plan to hold ‘General Elections’ for the ‘Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly’ in the illegally-occupied Indian territory, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement on Friday.
The planned election is scheduled to be held on June 7.
“The Government of India reiterated its well-known position that the entire Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, including the so-called ‘Gilgit-Baltistan,’ are integral and inalienable parts of India as a result of the complete, legal, and irrevocable accession of Jammu & Kashmir to India in 1947,” MEA stated.
The ‘Gilgit-Balt
istan Assembly’, as claimed by Pakistan, was formed in 2009. It has a total of 33 seats.
The MEA pointed out grave human rights violations in the region occupied by Pakistan.
“The Government of India further emphasised that such endeavours by Pakistan cannot mask the underlying issues of grave human rights violations, political repression, economic exploitation and denial of freedom in territories illegally occupied by Pakistan,” the MEA said.
“The Government of India categorically rejects any attempts by Pakistan to bring material change to areas under Pakistan’s illegal occupation, and underlines that such actions cannot hide the fact that Pakistan illegally remains in possession of Indian territories, which it must vacate,” the statement added.
Pakistan-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) human rights activist Amjad Ayub Mirza alleged gross human rights violation in the region by Pakistani forces, and appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene on behalf of residents of the region .
Mirza alleged that political and civil rights campaigners in Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan (PoGB) are facing arrests, detentions, and other forms of repression.
Last month, India strongly rejected “unwarranted” references made on Jammu and Kashmir by China and Pakistan in a joint statement.