China has reaffirmed its territorial claim over the Shaksgam Valley in Jammu and Kashmir and defended its infrastructure activities in the region, dismissing India’s objections and insisting that the construction being carried out is legitimate.
Responding to India’s protest last week, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the area belongs to China and that Beijing has the right to undertake development work there. “The territory you mentioned belongs to China. It is fully justified for China to conduct infrastructure construction on its own territory,” she told reporters. Mao added that China and Pakistan had signed a boundary agreement in the 1960s, which she said legally defined the border between the two countries.
India has strongly rejected both China’s claims and the legitimacy of the 1963 China–Pakistan boundary agreement, under which Pakistan ceded about 5,180 sq km of territory in the Shaksgam Valley to China from areas under its illegal occupation. New Delhi maintains that the entire region is part of Indian territory.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reiterated India’s position, stating, “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.” He added that the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are “an integral and inalienable part of India,” and that this stance has been clearly conveyed to both Pakistan and China.
Beijing also rejected India’s objections to the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), reiterating its long-standing position that the project is purely an economic cooperation initiative. Mao said the corridor is intended to promote socio-economic development and improve livelihoods in the region.
“The China–Pakistan boundary agreement and CPEC do not affect China’s position on the Kashmir issue, and that position remains unchanged,” she said. Mao added that China believes the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is a historical issue that should be resolved peacefully in accordance with the UN Charter, relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and bilateral agreements.
The China–Pakistan Economic Corridor is a multi-billion-dollar network of roads, railways, and energy projects connecting China’s Xinjiang region with Pakistan’s Gwadar port. India opposes the project because significant portions of it pass through territory that New Delhi considers its own.
