Pakistan rejects India’s comments on Gilgit-Baltistan elections as baseless

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday rejected India’s objections to the upcoming general elections in Gilgit-Baltistan, describing New Delhi’s remarks as baseless and accusing it of trying to blur facts through propaganda.

General elections in Gilgit-Baltistan are due to be held on Sunday, June 7, after being delayed for four months because of severe winter conditions. In the run-up to the vote, the Pakistan Peoples Party and other political parties have held rallies across the region and intensified their campaigns to win support.

In a statement, Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andarabi said India continued to occupy the internationally recognised disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir illegally and accused New Delhi of spreading false narratives. The statement said Pakistan rejected India’s latest remarks outright.

Earlier on Friday, India’s foreign ministry objected to the planned elections in Gilgit-Baltistan and claimed that the entire Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including what it called Gilgit-Baltistan, were integral parts of India.

Pakistan reiterates position on Kashmir dispute

Restating Islamabad’s position, the Foreign Office said the Jammu and Kashmir dispute remained the oldest unresolved issue on the United Nations Security Council agenda and said the matter stemmed from what it called India’s forcible and unlawful occupation of the state in 1947.

The Foreign Office said a just and lasting resolution required implementation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions so that the people of Kashmir could exercise what it described as their inalienable right to self-determination through a free and impartial plebiscite under UN auspices.

The statement also said India’s assertions regarding Gilgit-Baltistan could not shift attention away from what Pakistan described as grave and systematic human rights violations in India-occupied Kashmir. It said Indian forces operated with impunity under draconian laws and characterised the situation as state terrorism against unarmed Kashmiris.

Pakistan also called on India to vacate all occupied territories, reverse all illegal and unilateral measures taken in occupied Kashmir since August 5, 2019, and repeal what it termed draconian laws. It further urged New Delhi to allow neutral observers, international human rights and humanitarian organisations, and international media access to assess conditions on the ground.

The Foreign Office statement added:

India must also enable the Kashmiri people to exercise their right to self-determination in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions,

Earlier this year, Ghulam Abbas, a minister in the region’s caretaker setup, also dismissed what he called Indian propaganda. Speaking at the Meet the Press programme at the National Press Club, he said the people of Gilgit-Baltistan had always remained loyal to Pakistan and had consistently sought formal inclusion in the country.

According to details shared at the event, Gilgit-Baltistan separated from India without major violence, and the people of the region voluntarily raised the Pakistani flag. Abbas said Indian claims that the people of Gilgit-Baltistan were protesting against Pakistan in order to join India had no credibility in the region or internationally.

He said:

The Indian propaganda and the statements of Narendra Modi claiming that the people of GB are protesting against Pakistan to join India have become a laughing stock in the region,

Abbas added that this narrative was not being accepted by the international community.