Pakistan rejects Indian remarks on Gilgit-Baltistan elections

Terming remarks by the Spokesperson of the Indian Ministry for External Affairs about Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) elections as unwarranted, Pakistan on Friday said the Government of India has no locus standi in the matter. We have seen the remarks by the Spokesperson of the Indian Ministry for External Affairs made today in which he has described the elections held in Gilgit-Baltistan as just another cosmetic exercise intended to camouflage the fact of Pakistans illegal occupation of areas of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. These remarks are unwarranted. The Government of India has no locus standi in the matter, Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit said in a statement issued on Friday. As for Jammu and Kashmir dispute, it stems from Indias refusal to implement the relevant Security Council Resolutions, which provide for a just solution of the dispute through the democratic method of a free and fair plebiscite, the statement added.