Beijing/Delhi, Jan 13 — China on Monday reaffirmed its claim over the Shaksgam Valley, defending its ongoing infrastructure projects as “fully justified” after India criticised the developments and insisted the territory is Indian.
“Shaksgam Valley is Indian territory. We have never recognised the so-called China-Pakistan ‘boundary agreement’ signed in 1963. We have consistently maintained that the agreement is illegal and invalid,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Friday.
He added, “We also do not recognise the so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which passes through Indian territory that is under forcible and illegal occupation of Pakistan. Entire Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are an integral and inalienable part of India. This has been clearly conveyed to Pakistani and Chinese authorities several times.”
Pakistan had ceded 5,180 sq km of Kashmir territory in the Shaksgam Valley to China in 1963, an agreement India has never recognised.
Reacting to India’s objections, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a media briefing, “The territory you mentioned belongs to China. It’s fully justified for China to conduct infrastructure construction on its own territory. China and Pakistan in the 1960s signed a boundary agreement and delimited the boundary between the two countries, which is the right of China and Pakistan as sovereign countries.”
Addressing criticism of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Mao described it as “an economic cooperation initiative, aimed at promoting local socioeconomic development and improving people’s livelihood.” She said, “The China-Pakistan boundary agreement and CPEC do not affect China’s position on the Kashmir issue and the position remains unchanged.”
China reiterated its longstanding stance on Kashmir, stating that “the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is left over from history, and should be properly and peacefully resolved in accordance with the UN Charter, relevant UN Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreements.”
The 1963 agreement also contains a clause that allows China and Pakistan to reopen formal boundary negotiations after a settlement of the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan.