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Delhi Calls on Pakistan to Vacate 'Illegally Occupied' Indian Territories

Sputnik News

18:46 GMT 02.07.2020

New Delhi (Sputnik): Earlier, in May of this year, India issued a strong notice to Islamabad against the Supreme Court of Pakistan's order on the country's de facto Northern Areas, also known as Gilgit-Baltistan. Pakistani President Arif Alvi issued a notification earlier this month to hold elections in 24 constituencies in the region on 18 August.

Following the announcement of elections in Gilgit-Baltistan, India on Thursday "called upon Pakistan to vacate all Indian territories under its illegal occupation".

Completely rejecting attempts by Pakistan to bring material changes to the Indian territory of Jammu and Kashmir as well as Ladakh, India's External Affairs Ministry said that such "cosmetic exercises are intended to camouflage Pakistan's illegal occupation of Indian territories".

The strategically significant Gilgit-Baltistan is the northernmost part of the Jammu and Kashmir region and shares borders with India-administered Kashmir, Afghanistan, to the north and the Xinjiang region of China to the east and northeast. The area has been administered by Pakistan since 1947.

Delhi claims the Pakistan-administered part of Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan as part of the country's territory. In May, India's public broadcaster Prasar Bharti began giving weather bulletins for Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan as well. The Pakistani Foreign Ministry rejected the move.

The elections for Gilgit-Baltistan announced by Pakistan's President Arif Alvi are scheduled to take place in 24 constituencies on 18 August after the caretaker government completed its five-year tenure on 24 June.

Both India and Pakistan lay claim to the Jammu and Kashmir region but have only controlled parts of it as "India-administered Kashmir" and "Pakistan-administered Kashmir" since the region's independence from the British in 1947. The two nuclear-armed nations have fought three wars over the issue in the last seven decades.

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