India and Pakistan Clash Over Gilgit-Baltistan Elections and Kashmir

The Government of India and the Government of Pakistan exchanged sharp diplomatic rebukes between June 5 and June 7, 2026, centered on territorial claims in Kashmir and electoral activities in Gilgit-Baltistan. India lodged a formal protest against Pakistan's plan to hold general elections for the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly on June 7, asserting that the region is an integral part of the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. New Delhi characterized the polls as an attempt to legitimize the illegal occupation of Indian territory and argued that elections cannot mask human rights violations and political repression.

Pakistan categorically rejected these objections, with its Foreign Office describing India's claims as baseless propaganda. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif deployed over 5,000 personnel to secure the democratic process in Gilgit-Baltistan. Additionally, Pakistani authorities announced separate elections for Pakistan-occupied Jammu Kashmir on July 27.

The dispute extended to the United Nations in New York during a debate on the Security Council's annual report. India's Permanent Representative, Parvathaneni Harish, accused Pakistan of abusing its temporary membership of the Security Council to peddle biased narratives. In response, Pakistani representatives Asim Iftikhar Ahmad and Gul Qaiser Sarwani maintained that Jammu and Kashmir remains an internationally recognized dispute on the UN agenda. They called for a UN-supervised plebiscite and accused India of committing systematic human rights violations and violating the UN Charter.