China Justifies Infrastructure Construction In Kashmir's Shaksgam Valley, Rejects India's Claim
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning on Monday rejected India’s claim over the Shaksgam Valley in Jammu and Kashmir, stating that the territory belongs to China and that it is fully justified for China to conduct infrastructure construction on its own territory.
She was replying to a question over border issues and the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). She said that China and Pakistan had signed a boundary agreement in the 1960s and demarcated borders between the two countries. She further described the new settlement as an exercise of the rights of two sovereign states.
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India has reaffirmed New Delhi’s claim to the 5,180 square kilometer Shaksgam Valley, rejecting the 1963 China-Pakistan deal that ceded the area and opposing the CPEC route through it. China responded on January 12, with spokesperson Mao Ning declaring the valley Chinese territory and defending infrastructure projects as fully justified.
India had firmly rejected China’s infrastructure activities under the CPEC in the Shaksgam Valley. Calling the settlement illegal and invalid, India has asserted that the region is an integral part of the country. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India has never recognized the “so-called” China–Pakistan boundary agreement of 1963 or the CPEC during a recent press conference.
According to China, CPEC is an economic cooperation project intended to promote local economic and social development and improve people’s livelihoods.
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The Shaksgam Valley borders China’s Xinjiang Province to the north, the Northern Areas of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir to the south and west, and the Siachen Glacier region to the east.
