India on Friday, 5 June 2026, lodged a formal and strongly-worded protest with Pakistan over its plans to conduct 'General Elections' to the so-called 'Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly' — scheduled for 7 June 2026 — in territories that New Delhi regards as illegally and forcibly occupied Indian land. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) reiterated India's long-standing position that the entire Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including Gilgit-Baltistan, are integral and inalienable parts of India by virtue of the complete, legal, and irrevocable accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India in 1947.

MEA's Formal Position

The MEA statement was unambiguous: India categorically rejects any attempt by Pakistan to bring about a material change in areas under its illegal occupation. The government underlined that such electoral exercises cannot obscure the ground reality — that Pakistan remains in unlawful possession of Indian territories, which it must vacate.

'The Government of India further emphasised that such endeavours by Pakistan cannot mask the underlying issues of grave human rights violations, political repression, economic exploitation and denial of freedom in territories illegally occupied by Pakistan,' the MEA statement read. The protest was lodged after Pakistani authorities announced that polling for all constituencies of the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) Assembly would be held on 27 July.

Human Rights Dimension

The protest comes against a backdrop of escalating tensions over alleged rights abuses in Pakistan-occupied territories. As recently as last November, India had raised the issue at the UN General Assembly, where Bhavika Mangalanandan, First Secretary at India's UN Mission, stated that Pakistani forces and their proxies had 'killed many innocent civilians who are agitating for their basic rights and freedoms' in the territories Pakistan occupies.

Mangalanandan called on Pakistan to 'stop the grave and ongoing human rights violations in the areas illegally occupied by it, where the population is in open revolt against Pakistan's military occupation, repression, brutality and illegal exploitation of resources.'

India's Stand on the UN Plebiscite Argument

Pakistan has repeatedly invoked UN Security Council Resolution 47 of April 1948 to argue for a plebiscite in Kashmir. India, however, points out that the same resolution required Pakistan to first withdraw its troops and nationals from all of Kashmir — a condition Islamabad has never fulfilled. New Delhi has consistently characterised Pakistan's invocation of self-determination as a 'false equivalence' designed to deflect from its own illegal occupation.

Mangalanandan dismissed Pakistan's arguments at the UN, stating: 'It is unfortunate that Pakistan has resorted to subversion of the principle of self-determination by resorting to false equivalences.' She also cited the participation of Kashmiri voters in Indian elections as evidence of democratic legitimacy, adding that 'the social and economic progress experienced by them is evident for all to see.'

What This Means Going Forward

India's protest is the latest in a series of formal diplomatic objections to Pakistan's administrative actions in Gilgit-Baltistan, a region Islamabad has periodically attempted to integrate more formally into its constitutional framework. Analysts note that holding elections there is part of a broader Pakistani strategy to normalise its control over the territory. New Delhi's consistent rejection of such moves signals that the bilateral fault line over occupied territories remains as sharp as ever, with no diplomatic resolution in sight.