Territorial spat flares as China reasserts Shaksgam claim, India pushes back

BEIJING, Jan 13: China on Monday reaffirmed its territorial claims over the Shaksgam Valley in the backdrop of India's objections, stressing that the Chinese infrastructure projects in the area are "beyond reproach."

India last Friday criticised China's infrastructure development projects in the Shaksgam Valley, saying it reserves the right to take necessary measures to safeguard its interests, as it is an Indian territory.

Pakistan illegally ceded 5,180 sq km of Indian territory in the Shaksgam Valley to China in 1963 from areas illegally occupied by it.

"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.

"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 said.

Reacting to Jaiswal's comments, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a media briefing here 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 while responding to a question on India's criticism. Mao said China and Pakistan have signed a border agreement and determined the border between the two countries since the 1960s. These are the rights of Pakistan and China as sovereign states, she said.

On India's criticism of the CPEC, Mao repeated Beijing's narrative that it is an economic initiative aimed at local economic and social development and improving people's livelihoods.

- PTI