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India Lodges Protest with Pakistan over Holding Elections in Gilgit-Baltistan
India said Pakistan’s planned Gilgit-Baltistan polls cannot change the territory’s status, while Islamabad called the protest baseless and reiterated its own Kashmir claims.
On Friday, India lodged a strong protest with Pakistan regarding plans to hold "General Elections" for the "Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly" on June 7, 2026, asserting the region is Indian territory "illegally and forcibly" occupied.
The Government of India reiterated that the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, including the region, are integral parts of India following the complete, legal, and irrevocable accession of Jammu & Kashmir in 1947.
Pakistan's Foreign Office rejected the protest as "outlandish claims," maintaining the Kashmir dispute remains the longest unresolved item on the United Nations Security Council agenda, originating from India's 1947 occupation.
Activist Amjad Ayub Mirza appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene, citing arrests of Gilgit-Baltistan Awami Action Committee members seeking political representation and economic rights.
The Foreign Office further alleged that impunity enjoyed by Indian forces under draconian laws in IIOJK constitutes "another dimension of the state terrorism" perpetrated by New Delhi against Kashmiris.