BEIJING
\nBeijing has rejected New Delhi\u2019s claim over the Shaksgam valley in Kashmir and said that the territory \u201cbelongs to China\u201d. At a press conference when asked by the Press Trust of India (PTI) for comment on the Indian criticism of China\u2019s infrastructure development projects in the Shaksgam valley, China\u2018s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said that it was \u201cfully justified\u201d for China to conduct infrastructure construction \u201con its own territory\u201d.
\n\u201cThe territory you mentioned belongs to China,\u201d she said. India\u2019s foreign ministry spokesperson had on Friday said that it reserved the right to take necessary measures to safeguard its interests as the Shaksgam valley was \u201can Indian territory\u201d. \u201cWe have never recognised the so-called China-Pakistan boundary agreement that happened in 1963.
\nWe have consistently maintained that the agreement is illegal and invalid,\u201d he said at a press conference in response to a question from India\u2019s state-owned public television broadcaster Doordashan. The Indian spokesperson added that New Delhi also does not \u201crecognise the so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor\u201d.
\n\u201cThe entire union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are an integral and inalienable part of India,\u201d he maintained, adding, \u201cThis has been clearly conveyed to Pakistani and the Chinese authorities several times\u201d.He added that India had \u201cconsistently protested with the Chinese side against attempts to alter the ground reality in Shaksgam Valley\u201d.
\nMao Ning, in response to the Indian foreign ministry spokesperson\u2019s comments, said that China and Pakistan had in the 1960s signed a boundary agreement and delimited the boundary between the two countries, terming it \u201cthe right of China and Pakistan as sovereign countries\u201d. \u201cThe China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), as an economic cooperation initiative, aims at promoting local socio-economic development and improving people\u2019s livelihood,\u201d she said.
\n\u201cThe China-Pakistan boundary agreement and CPEC do not affect China\u2019s position on the Kashmir issue and the position remains unchanged.\u201d India and China have long clashed over border disputes, but had reached a milestone pact in 2024 on lowering military tensions on their Himalayan border, which escalated after a military clash in 2020 in which 20 soldiers from India and four from China were killed.
\nSince the pact in 2024, the two countries have taken steps to improve relations, including a resumption of direct flights and enhanced investment and trade flows. However, Beijing and New Delhi continue to spar over territory, including Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing calls Zangnan and says is a part of South Tibet \u2014 a claim India has repeatedly dismissed. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BEIJING Beijing has rejected New Delhi\u2019s claim over the Shaksgam valley in Kashmir and said that the territory \u201cbelongs to China\u201d. At a press conference when asked by the Press Trust of India (PTI) for comment on the Indian criticism of China\u2019s infrastructure development projects in the Shaksgam valley, China\u2018s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":355862,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-525458","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n