India on Sunday opposed Pakistan’s move to grant provisional provincial status to Gilgit-Baltistan, saying the government firmly rejected Islamabad’s attempts to bring material changes to a part of Indian territory, “under its illegal and forcible occupation”.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan formally announced the provisional provincial status for Gilgit-Baltistan at a public gathering in Gilgit held to mark the 73rd Independence Day of the region. Khan claimed the government had fulfilled a long-standing demand of the people of the region. The decision, he said, had been taken within the framework of United Nations Security Council’s resolutions.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava rejected Khan’s assertions and said the government of Pakistan has no locus standi on territories it had “illegally and…