India blasts PoK polls as 'cosmetic exercise' by Pakistan to mask its illegal occupation

India on Tuesday described the ongoing local body elections in Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (PoK) as an attempt by Islamabad to camouflage its illegal occupation and hide its "grave" human rights violations in the region.

Voting in PoK began this week for the first round of local legislative elections amid widespread violence.

"The current cosmetic electoral exercise is nothing but an attempt by Pakistan to camouflage its illegal occupation and hide its grave human rights violations in the region," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at his bi-weekly media briefing.


He reiterated that the entire Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, including the areas currently under Pakistan's "illegal and forcible occupation", are parts of India.

"India's position on this matter has been clear, consistent, and well known. The entire Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, including the areas currently under Pakistan's illegal and forcible occupation, are integral and inalienable parts of India."

"As we have stated earlier, the ongoing mass protests in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir are the direct consequences of Pakistan's economic exploitation, its denial of the people's fundamental rights, and its administrative oppression," he said.

Jaiswal also responded to a question on many Pakistani experts talking about shared Indus Valley civilisation between India and Pakistan in the context of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) and if it was an attempt of cultural appropriation.

"A country which has been promoting cross-border terrorism, which has been promoting religious fundamentalism and violence for decades, cannot have any claim to any pluralistic cultural legacy," he said.

"Their abysmal track record on the protection of minorities and their cultural rights make such desperate attempts look even more phony," he added.

India decided to put the IWT in abeyance as part of a series of punitive diplomatic and economic measures unveiled soon after the Pahalgam terror attack in April last year that killed 26 civilians.

Asked about videos originating from Pakistan to extend support to students' protests in Jantar Mantar, Jaiswal said Indian youths know reality of that country.

"Let me say that, as we all are aware, Pakistan has been sponsoring cross-border terrorism against India for several decades now," he said.

"The people of India, including the Gen Z, have been demanding that the Pakistani state-sponsored cross-border terrorism, must come to an end. We hope their counterparts are taking note," he said.