India had objected to the elections in the region which formed part of Kashmir state at the time of 1947 partition of India. An Indian government spokesman on Friday decried the polls as ‘just another cosmetic exercise intended to camouflage’ Islamabad’s illegal occupation of areas of Jammu and Kashmir’.

“The remarks by the spokesperson for the Indian Ministry of External Affairs are unwarranted. The government of India has no locus standi in the matter,” Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said in a statement issued here.

“As for the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, it stems from India’s refusal to implement the relevant Security Council Resolutions, which provide for a just solution of the dispute through the democratic method of a free and fair plebiscite,” the statement added.

Earlier on Thursday, the ruling Pakistan People’s Party won the elections for a legislative assembly Gilgit-Baltistan northern region.

According to unofficial results available for 20 out of 23 seats, PPP has won 11 with the Pakistan Muslim League-N getting two seats.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement managed to win one seat as did the religious Jamiat Ulema Islam-F and the PML-Q. Four independent candidates also won in the elections.

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