India News | India Slams Pak's Announcement of Holding Polls in Gilgit-Baltistan; Terms It Cosmetic Exercise
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. India on Thursday slammed Pakistan for its decision to hold general elections in Gilgit-Baltistan and said such cosmetic exercises are intended to "camouflage" Islamabad's "illegal" occupation of Indian territories.
New Delhi, Jul 2 (PTI) India on Thursday slammed Pakistan for its decision to hold general elections in Gilgit-Baltistan and said such cosmetic exercises are intended to "camouflage" Islamabad's "illegal" occupation of Indian territories.
Last week, Pakistan announced that general elections in Gilgit-Baltistan will be held on August 18.
"We completely reject attempts by Pakistan to bring material changes to the Indian territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Such cosmetic exercises are intended to camouflage Pakistan's illegal occupation of Indian territories," Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Anurag Srivastava said.
"We call upon Pakistan to vacate all Indian territories that are under their illegal occupation," he said.
Srivastava was replying to a question on the issue at an online media briefing.
In a recent ruling, the Pakistan Supreme Court allowed Islamabad to amend a 2018 administrative order to conduct general elections in the region. The Gilgit-Baltistan Order of 2018 provided for administrative changes, including authorising the prime minister of Pakistan to legislate on an array of subjects.
In May, India had issued a demarche to a senior Pakistani diplomat here and lodged a strong protest over the apex court ruling.
India also clearly conveyed to Pakistan that the entire union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including the areas of Gilgit and Baltistan, are an integral part of the country.
Srivastava also rejected Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi's allegations that there was an India link to the terror attack on the Pakistan stock exchange in Karachi on Monday.
Hours after gunmen attacked the Pakistani stock exchange in Karachi, Qureshi alleged that the clues of strike are leading towards sleeper cells activated by India. PTI MPB ZMN 07022308 NNNNainst an inferior one, rankled due to a long-term injury to our goalkeeper because of unnecessary foul play from an opponent who then rubbed salt in the wound by scoring the winning goal in the dying seconds.
But it passed quickly, quicker than it ever would have in the past. A close friend and colleague who has also supported Arsenal all his life felt the same watching live from New York in our hyper-connected world. We WhatsApp-ed, then moved on with the rest of our weekends.
The same friend and I had attended a match that we still reminisce about where a winning goal, a penalty deep into stoppage time, had sent my row bonkers, us included, and seemed to take the roof off.
Those are the joys. Camaraderie with several people I sit with as a season ticket holder for more than a quarter century. The pre-match rituals, the pub for a couple looseners (or not, in the event my teenage son, who has gone off the game in the last few years, accompanies me — a rare treat).
Then on Thursday, a win — but dreary watching nonetheless. I'll keep watching the matches every few days as the league races to complete the interrupted season. But let's not kid ourselves: Like so much else, this was a financial decision as lockdowns are eased across the world to resuscitate flatlining economies.
Hundreds of millions in various currencies are at stake for the monstrous cash-cow brand; global TV rights are in the balance.
But the first ''home"" game of the pandemic rest-of-season this week will feel especially soulless to view denuded of fans and denuded of me. And I cannot even fathom when it will cease to be insanity to attend an event with some 60,000 other people again.
Memories fortify. Maybe Humphrey Bogart's Rick was right in ''Casablanca'': "We'll always have ...'' ___
Virus Diary, an occasional feature, showcases the coronavirus pandemic through the eyes of Associated Press journalists around the world. See previous entries here. AP
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)