The recently held local elections in the in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK) has been declared as complete farce by India.
The Official Spokesperson of the Minister of External Affairs (MEA) Randhir Jaiswal said this ‘so-called’ election conducted by Pakistan was a hollow exercise and certainly cannot hide the stark reality of the area.
While addressing his bi-weekly On Tuesday the 4th of Jaiswal said that since June earlier this year, at least 90 civilians have lost their lives in the continuing crackdown in POJK.
The MEA spokesperson added that the Pakistani establishment has answered public discontent with bullets, black outs, intimidation and repression, and now seeks to manufacture legitimacy through a hollow electoral exercise.
Jaiswal added that Pakistan must be held accountable and the world should see through Pakistan’s hypocritical lecturing on human rights.
Replying to another media query on invitation for BRICS Summit to be held in Delhi in September, Randhir Jaiswal said a formal invitation for a bilateral visit to India was extended to Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman upon his assumption of office in February this year.
As far as the BRICS Summit is concerned, India has separately extended an invitation to Bangladesh Prime Minister in his capacity as the current Chair of BIMSTEC to attend the outreach session of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi.
The MEA said that the invitation to Bangladesh PM has been extended as per the standard practice being followed in BRICS for the outreach sessions and other heads of regional groups have also been invited in a similar manner.
