India rejects China’s Shaksgam Valley claims and CPEC projects, calling them illegal and reaffirming sovereignty over Jammu & Kashmir territory.

China’s bogus cartographical claims over the Shaksgam Valley in Jammu and Kashmir, together with its insistence that its infrastructure projects there are “beyond reproach,” have rekindled tensions with India. Days prior to the provocation, Delhi had criticized Beijing’s infrastructure initiatives in the valley, claiming that, as an Indian territory, it had the right to take whatever necessary action to protect its resources.

The high-altitude Shaksgam Valley, also known as the Trans Karakoram Tract, is situated north of the Karakoram range, near the disputed Siachen/Aksai Chin area, in a sensitive location that borders China’s Xinjiang province. The Hunza-Gilgit Region of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) includes it.

In 1963, Pakistan unlawfully gave China 5,180 square kilometers of Indian territory in the Shaksgam Valley that it had illegally invaded as part of the Sino-Pakistan Border Agreement. India’s legitimate claim to the region has been affirmed by New Delhi, which has firmly denounced this action as illegal and illegitimate.

Claims Made by China

In response to a question concerning India’s stance on Shaksgam, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stated at a Beijing media conference that “first of all, the territory you mentioned is part of China’s territory.”

“China’s infrastructure activities in its own territory are beyond reproach,” she said in response to a query about the criticism in India.

China and Pakistan have signed a border agreement and established the two nations’ border since the 1960s, according to Mao, who cited its unlawful deal with Islamabad. “These are the rights of Pakistan and China as sovereign states,” she said.

In spite of China’s assertions, Article 6 of its 1963 agreement with Pakistan made it clear that “the two Parties have agreed that the sovereign authority concerned will reopen negotiations with the Government of the People’s Republic of China on the boundary as described in Article Two of the present Agreement so as to sign a formal Boundary Treaty to replace the present agreement after the settlement of the Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India.”

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In response to India’s criticism of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Mao reiterated Beijing’s claim that the project is an economic endeavor that aims to improve people’s livelihoods and promote local economic and social development.China’s stance on the Kashmir issue will not alter as a result of this deal or CPEC, according to Mao.

The Stand of India

India rejected China’s Shaksgam Valley development project on Friday. Spokesman for the Foreign Ministry Randhir Jaiswal declared, “Indian territory includes the Shaksgam Valley. The so-called China-Pakistan “boundary agreement” that was signed in 1963 has never been recognized by us. We have continuously argued that the contract is unlawful and unenforceable.

“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,” he continued.

He also stated that New Delhi has continuously communicated to China and Pakistan that the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are an essential part of India. “We further reserve the right to take necessary measures to safeguard our interests,” the Foreign Ministry spokesperson added.

Illegal Activities in Shaksgam by China

According to reports, China has begun building an all-weather road through Shaksgam despite New Delhi’s persistent opposition to Chinese travel in the region. Beijing’s development efforts in Shaksgam have accelerated since the Doklam crisis in Bhutan in 2017.

The world’s highest battleground, Siachen Glacier, is reportedly less than 49 kilometers away from the new route, which is unlikely to affect India’s defensive positions nearby.

According to a 2021 South China Morning Post article, Pakistan’s goal was to construct new overland border crossings with China in order to improve their military cooperation with Indian forces in Ladakh and the remainder of Kashmir.