India filed a strong protest against the Pakistani government on Tuesday, stating that Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, including Gilgit and Baltistan, are an integral part of India. Pakistan, India said, “has no locus standi in illegally and forcibly occupied territories.”
India issued a statement in response to the announcement of the ‘Gilgit-Baltistan’ legislative assembly elections scheduled for November 15.
Here is the full text from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on India’s reaction:
We have seen reports of the announcement of elections to the so-called “Gilgit-Baltistan” Legislative Assembly to be held on November 15, 2020. The Government of India has conveyed its strong protest to the Government of Pakistan and reiterated that all Territories of the Union of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including the so-called Gilgit and Baltistan areas, are an integral part of India by virtue of its accession in 1947. The Government of Pakistan has no locus standi in the illegally and illegally occupied territories. strength.
The Government of India has also completely rejected recent actions, such as the so-called “2020 Gilgit-Baltistan Amendment Order (Elections and Provisional Government)” and the continued attempts by the Pakistani establishment to introduce material changes in the areas under its control. illegal and forced occupation. . Actions such as these cannot conceal the illegal occupation of parts of the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh by Pakistan or the serious human rights violations, exploitation and denial of liberty to the people residing in the territories occupied by Pakistan during the last seven decades. These are cosmetic exercises designed to camouflage their illegal occupation. We call on Pakistan to immediately abandon all areas under its illegal occupation.
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