ISLAMABAD (MNN); Pakistan on Friday strongly rejected India’s objections to the upcoming general elections in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), describing New Delhi’s remarks as baseless, misleading and part of a deliberate effort to distort facts regarding the disputed Jammu and Kashmir issue.
General elections in Gilgit-Baltistan are scheduled to be held on June 7 after being postponed for four months due to severe winter conditions. Political parties, including the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), have intensified their election campaigns and public outreach efforts across the region ahead of the polls.
In a statement, Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andarabi dismissed India’s criticism, asserting that New Delhi continues to occupy the internationally recognised disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir. He accused India of promoting fabricated narratives and engaging in misleading propaganda regarding regional affairs.
“We categorically reject India’s latest remarks and view them as another attempt to misrepresent the realities of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute,” the Foreign Office said.
The reaction came after India’s Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement objecting to the elections in Gilgit-Baltistan, claiming that the entire territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including Gilgit-Baltistan, are an integral part of India.
Reaffirming Pakistan’s longstanding position, the Foreign Office stated that the Jammu and Kashmir dispute remains the oldest unresolved issue on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council and stems from what it described as India’s unlawful occupation of the territory in 1947.
Pakistan maintained that a just and lasting solution to the dispute can only be achieved through the implementation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions, which guarantee the Kashmiri people their right to self-determination through a free and impartial plebiscite conducted under United Nations supervision.
The Foreign Office further said that India’s claims regarding Gilgit-Baltistan cannot distract the international community from what it described as serious and systematic human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
According to the statement, Indian security forces continue to operate under stringent laws that provide legal immunity, resulting in what Pakistan termed state-sponsored repression against unarmed Kashmiris.
Islamabad also called on New Delhi to end its occupation of disputed territories, reverse all unilateral measures introduced in occupied Kashmir since August 5, 2019, and repeal laws that Pakistan considers repressive.
The Foreign Office further urged India to grant access to neutral international observers, humanitarian organisations, human rights bodies and global media representatives to independently assess the situation in the occupied territory.
Pakistan reiterated that the Kashmiri people must be allowed to exercise their right to self-determination in accordance with United Nations resolutions.
Separately, former caretaker minister for Gilgit-Baltistan Ghulam Abbas earlier this year dismissed what he called Indian propaganda regarding the region. Speaking at a “Meet the Press” programme at the National Press Club, he said the people of Gilgit-Baltistan have consistently demonstrated loyalty to Pakistan and have long advocated for becoming a constitutional part of the country.
Abbas stated that the region’s people voluntarily aligned themselves with Pakistan and rejected claims that residents seek integration with India.
He said statements by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggesting that Gilgit-Baltistan residents were protesting against Pakistan had failed to gain credibility both within the region and internationally.
