BEIJIJING: China has rejected India’s claim over the Shaksgam Valley in the disputed Kashmir region, saying the territory “belongs to China” and defending its infrastructure development there as legitimate activity on its own soil.
Speaking at a regular press briefing at Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning responded to Indian criticism of China’s construction projects in the Shaksgam Valley by saying Beijing’s actions were “fully justified”.
“The territory you mentioned belongs to China,” Mao said, adding that China had the right to carry out infrastructure development within its borders.
India’s foreign ministry had said on Friday that Shaksgam Valley was part of Indian territory and that New Delhi reserved the right to take “necessary measures” to protect its interests. India has long rejected the 1963 China-Pakistan boundary agreement, under which Pakistan ceded control of the area to China.
“We have never recognised the so-called China-Pakistan boundary agreement,” India’s spokesperson said, calling it “illegal and invalid”. He also reiterated India’s opposition to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship component of China’s Belt and Road Initiative that passes through parts of Kashmir administered by Pakistan.
“The entire union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are an integral and inalienable part of India,” the spokesperson said, adding that India had repeatedly protested against what it called attempts to change facts on the ground in Shaksgam Valley.
Mao countered that China and Pakistan, as sovereign states, had lawfully signed and demarcated their boundary in the 1960s. She said CPEC was aimed at boosting local development and improving livelihoods, and stressed that neither the boundary agreement nor the corridor altered China’s position on the Kashmir dispute.
“The position remains unchanged,” she said.
The latest exchange underscores the fragility of relations between Asia’s two largest powers despite recent efforts to ease tensions. India and China have been locked in long-running border disputes, including a deadly clash in the Galwan Valley in 2020 that left 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers dead.
In 2024, the two sides reached an agreement to lower military tensions along their contested Himalayan frontier, followed by steps to improve ties, including the resumption of direct flights and expanded trade and investment.
However, territorial disputes continue to fuel friction. Beijing also claims India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh — which it calls Zangnan and says is part of South Tibet — a claim New Delhi has repeatedly rejected. China has renamed locations in the region several times, prompting strong diplomatic protests from India.
