ISLAMABAD: China has rejected India’s claim over the Shaksgam Valley in the disputed Kashmir region and defended its infrastructure projects there, saying the territory belongs to China and that development activities are being carried out on its own land, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a press briefing in Beijing on Monday.
Mao said it was “fully justified” for China to undertake infrastructure construction in the area and dismissed India’s objections to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
“The territory you mentioned belongs to China. It’s fully justified for China to conduct infrastructure construction on its own territory,” the spokesperson said.
“China and Pakistan in the 1960s signed a boundary agreement and delimited the boundary between the two countries, which is the right of China and Pakistan as sovereign countries.”
India's claim
Earlier this month, India criticized Chinese infrastructure projects in the Shaksgam Valley and reiterated that it does not recognize CPEC, asserting that the area is part of Indian territory.
At a news conference in New Delhi on Jan. 9, the Indian ministry of external affairs had claimed that the Shaksgam Valley is Indian territory and described the 1963 China-Pakistan boundary agreement as “illegal and invalid.” Indian officials also said New Delhi reserves the right to take necessary measures to safeguard its interests, according to the Times of India.
The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson rejected that position, saying the boundary agreement and CPEC do not affect China’s stance on the Kashmir dispute.
“The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, as an economic cooperation initiative, aims at promoting local socioeconomic development and improving people’s livelihood,” she said, adding that China’s position on the Kashmir issue “remains unchanged.”
China and Pakistan launched the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project in 2015 as a flagship economic cooperation initiative to boost connectivity, trade, and development between the two countries. The project aims to connect Pakistan's Gwadar Port in the south to China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang via a network of highways, railways, and pipelines.
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