The Foreign Office spokesman Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri on Sunday categorically rejected a statement issued by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs regarding Gilgit-Baltistan and termed it “irresponsible and unwarranted”.

“India has no locus standi whatsoever on the issue — legal, moral or historical,” he said and added, “For more than 73 years, India has been in illegal and forcible occupation of parts of Jammu and Kashmir. Regurgitation of false and fabricated claims by India can neither change the facts nor divert attention from India’s illegal actions and continuing humanitarian crisis resulting from the perpetration of the worst human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.”

He was responding to the statement shared by his Indian counterpart Anurag Srivastava, on Pakistan's decision to grant Gilgit-Baltistan provisional provincial status. India has rejected the announcement claiming that the region is an integral part of Indian.

It's worth mentioning that the GB region had declared independence on November 1, 1947, after a bloody revolution that overthrew Dogra rule. The residents of GB have been demanding complete integration into Pakistan for seven decades now.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, on Sunday, had announced to grant the provisional provincial status to the region of Gilgit-Baltistankeeping in view of United Nations Security Council resolutions. The announcement was made during Khan's visit on the region's 73rd independence day.

"I want to pay tribute to GB scouts and those shahada (martyrs) who gave sacrifices and freed this region. I wanted to congratulate the people of GB on another thing: our decision to give GB provincial status. This decision has been taken while keeping in view the UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions," Khan said while announcing the decision.