New Delhi: India on Tuesday rejected “unwarranted references” to the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir in a joint statement between Pakistan and China, saying the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh will always be “indivisible and inalienable parts” of the country.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal responded to media queries on references to the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in the China-Pakistan Joint Statement by saying: “India categorically rejects the unwarranted references to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in the China-Pakistan Joint Statement.”
Jaiswal said India’s position “is consistent and well known to the parties concerned. The Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have always been and will remain an integral and inalienable part of India. No other country has the right to comment on the same.”
In the context of the so-called “China-Pakistan Economic Corridor” projects, some of which are located in Indian sovereign territory, Jaiswal said: “We strongly oppose and reject any moves by other countries to strengthen or legitimize Pakistan’s forced and illegal occupation of these territories, affecting India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. This has been clearly conveyed to the Pakistani and Chinese authorities several times.”
The Indian side said it had also seen “references to the so-called ‘cross-border water resources cooperation’ between China and Pakistan,” and said that since the two countries “do not share any border, the issue of so-called ‘cross-border water resources cooperation’ does not arise.”
Jaiswal said India has never recognized the so-called 1963 Boundary Agreement between Pakistan and China.
