New Delhi: India on Friday summoned the deputy high commissioner of Pakistan and lodged a strong protest against a recent order by the Pakistan Supreme Court on the”Gilgit-Baltistan” area in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
According to news agency reports, the Pakistani top court has said in an order that its jurisdiction extends to Gilgit-Baltistan.
New Delhi made it clear that the Pakistan SC order is an interference in India’s internal affairs and said the Pakistani Government and Judiciary have no locus standi over territory illegally occupied by Pakistan in 1947.
India said the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir, which also includes the so-called ‘Gilgit-Baltistan’ is an integral part of India. Islamabad was asked to vacate territories illegally occupied by it, with India also accusing it of grave human rights violations in these areas.
“Pakistan government or judiciary have no locus standi on territories illegally and forcibly occupied by it. Any action to alter the status of these occupied territories by Pakistan has no legal basis whatsoever,” the MEA said in a statement.
The MEA said Pakistan was trying to “camouflage grave human rights violations, exploitation and sufferings of the people living there”.
According to news agency reports, the Pakistan Supreme Court has also asked the federal government in Pakistan to promulgate a new law within a fortnight to grant more rights, including fundamental human rights, to the people of Gilgit-Baltistan in PoK.
