India registers protest against bringing 'material changes' in Pak-occupied areas in J&K

India has lodged a strong protest against the orders by Islamabad to "bring material change in Pakistan occupied territories" in Jammu and Kashmir. New Delhi also said Islamabad must "immediately vacate them", in the wake of an order by Pakistan's Supreme Court on Gilgit-Baltistan.

India delivered a demarche on Monday to a senior Pakistan diplomat conveying that "the entire Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including the areas of Gilgit and Baltistan, are an integral part of India" by virtue of its fully legal and irrevocable accession.

Pakistan's government or its judiciary has no locus standi on territories illegally and forcibly occupied by it, New Delhi said.

"India completely rejects such actions and continued attempts to bring material changes in Pakistan occupied areas of the Indian territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Instead, Pakistan should immediately vacate all areas under its illegal occupation," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, in a note.

India was reacting to a Pakistan's Supreme Court order that allowed its government to hold elections in September in Gilgit-Baltistan. The order implied Gilgit-Baltistan came within its domain, and that Pakistan could set up a caretaker government during the interim period.

The MEA further said "such actions can neither hide the illegal occupation of parts of Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh by Pakistan nor the grave human rights violations, exploitation and denial of freedom to the people residing in Pakistan occupied territories for the past seven decades."

The Government of India’s position in the matter is also reflected in the resolution passed by the Parliament in 1994 by consensus.