(Karachi) China has rejected India's remarks over granting provisional provincial status to Gilgit-Baltistan and called for resolution of the Kashmir issue peacefully and properly in accordance with the UN Charter, relevant Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreements between Pakistan and India, local media reported.

The Government of India had accused Pakistan of bringing material changes to G-B and claimed it is a part of Indian territory. It stated that the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including the area of Gilgit-Baltistan are part of India.

During a regular press briefing, the Chinese foreign ministry’s spokesperson Wang Wenbin said: "It is an issue left over from history between India and Pakistan."

He dismissed the impression that China did not have a neutral approach on the issue saying, “I don’t think that is a valid statement.”

The spokesperson reiterated that China’s position on the Kashmir issue is consistent and clear.

On November 3, Pakistan categorically rejected the Indian Defence Minister’s unwarranted comments regarding Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).

It said India has no locus standi whatsoever on the issue — historical, legal, or moral.

The FO stated, "Gratuitous repetition of false claims by the RSS-BJP leaders, one after the other, for political point-scoring can neither change facts nor can it draw attention away from the reprehensible human rights violations being perpetrated against the Kashmiri people by Indian occupation forces in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK)."

It maintained that Pakistan’s principled position on the Jammu & Kashmir dispute remains firmly anchored in the relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions. "Administrative, political and economic reforms are a long-standing demand of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan. The envisaged provisional reforms reflect the aspirations of the indigenous populace of Gilgit-Baltistan," the statement added.