New Delhi: India has strongly opposed Pakistan’s decision to hold general elections for the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly on June 7, asserting that the region is an integral part of India and remains under Islamabad’s illegal and forcible occupation.
In a sharp response, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) lodged a formal protest with Pakistan, rejecting the proposed electoral exercise and reiterating India’s long-standing position on the status of Gilgit-Baltistan.
India Reaffirms Sovereignty Claim
The MEA stated that the entire Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, including Gilgit-Baltistan, are integral and inalienable parts of India. According to New Delhi, Pakistan has no legal authority to conduct elections or undertake administrative measures in territories that belong to India.
India maintained that such actions cannot alter the legal status of the region and have no bearing on its sovereignty claims. The government further stressed that attempts to institutionalize Pakistan’s control through elections are unacceptable and devoid of legal validity.
India lodges strong protest regarding holding of “General Elections” in “Gilgit-Baltistan”
🔗 https://t.co/J3YFXQrSBh pic.twitter.com/CvTKddUEJR
— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) June 5, 2026
Elections Scheduled for June 7
Pakistan is set to conduct elections for the 33-member Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly on June 7 after the polls were postponed earlier due to harsh winter conditions in the mountainous region. Security arrangements have reportedly been intensified ahead of the voting process.
The election is being viewed as a significant political exercise in the strategically important region, which lies at the crossroads of South and Central Asia and forms a key part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Long-Standing Dispute
Gilgit-Baltistan remains at the centre of the broader Jammu and Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan. While Pakistan administers the region, India consistently maintains that it is part of its sovereign territory by virtue of the accession of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir to India in 1947.
Over the years, New Delhi has repeatedly objected to constitutional, administrative and electoral measures undertaken by Pakistan in Gilgit-Baltistan, arguing that such moves violate India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
India Demands End to ‘Illegal Occupation’
Reiterating its position, India called upon Pakistan to vacate all territories under its illegal occupation instead of pursuing political exercises aimed at legitimizing its control.
The latest diplomatic protest underscores continuing tensions between the two neighbours over the status of Gilgit-Baltistan and highlights the enduring complexity of the Kashmir issue, which remains one of the most sensitive disputes in South Asia.
