India Perturbed on Rights of G-B by Supreme Court of Pakistan

External Affairs (MEA) issued a “strong protest” on Monday over an order by the Pakistan Supreme Court allowing the Imran Khan government to hold elections in the region of Gilgit-Baltistan.

The government said it had issued a demarche to protest what it called Pakistan’s attempt to make “material changes” to the disputed area, by bringing federal authority to Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B), which has functioned as a “provincial autonomous region” since 2009.

On April 30, a seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court in Islamabad, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Gulzar Ahmed, had allowed the government to organise general elections in G-B, and to set up a caretaker government there before that. As a result of the coronavirus lockdown restrictions, the demarche was issued via email to the Minister (Political) in Pakistan’s High Commission in Delhi, after a telephone conversation with MEA officials.