China , Jan 13 : China has rejected India’s claim over the Shaksgam Valley in Jammu and Kashmir, asserting that the region belongs to China and that infrastructure development there is fully justified.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the area in question is Chinese territory and described infrastructure construction as an internal matter. She stated that China and Pakistan signed a boundary agreement in the 1960s, under which their borders were demarcated as an exercise of sovereignty by two independent states.
Mao also defended the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, saying it is an economic cooperation initiative aimed at promoting local development and improving livelihoods. She added that the border agreement with Pakistan and the CPEC do not alter China’s position on the Kashmir issue, which she said remains unchanged.
The Shaksgam Valley borders China’s Xinjiang region to the north, Pakistan-occupied areas of Jammu and Kashmir to the south and west, and the Siachen Glacier region to the east.
Earlier, India strongly objected to China’s infrastructure activities in the Shaksgam Valley, calling them illegal and invalid. New Delhi reiterated that the region is an integral and inalienable part of India and said it has never recognised the 1963 China-Pakistan boundary agreement or the CPEC passing through territory under Pakistan’s illegal occupation.
India has consistently conveyed its objections to both China and Pakistan and has stated that it reserves the right to take necessary measures to protect its interests.
