‘Shaksgam Valley is part of India’: MEA on Chinese activities near Siachen Glacier

Highlighting Chinese activities near Siachen Glacier, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Thursday confirmed that Shaksgam Valley is part of India, adding that India has lodged a protest against China over illegal attempts to change facts in Shaksgam Valley. Have got it done.

Responding to China’s attempt to build a road in a part of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir near the Siachen Glacier, the External Affairs Ministry spokesperson reiterated India’s stand on the issue.

“Shaksgam Valley is a part of Indian territory,” Jaiswal said.

He further emphasized that India has never accepted the “China-Pakistan Boundary Agreement”.

“We have never accepted the so-called China-Pakistan Boundary Agreement of 1963 through which Pakistan has attempted to illegally cede this territory to China, and we have consistently expressed our disapproval of it. We have registered our protest with the Chinese side against illegal attempts to change facts on the ground.

The spokesperson reiterated that India reserves the right to take necessary steps to protect its interests.

“We have been protesting whenever the need arose, we have always taken a very strong stance on this,” Jaiswal said.

China has invested in building military infrastructure in the Shaksgam Valley, which, in the medium term, could pose a military threat to Indian forces in Ladakh, Nepal-based online magazine Pardafas reported last year.

Over the past several years, China has maintained military pressure on India through its incursions across the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Although this fact has been accepted by the international community, a study by Northwestern University suggests that China’s intrusion is strategically planned to create a permanent Chinese presence in these areas.

Border violations and infiltration are well-documented in all three sectors of the 3,488 km long border, which India officially shares with China. However, Pardafas revealed that a much more sinister military offensive is underway in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoK).

The context here is the construction of military infrastructure and roads by China in the Shaksgam Valley, a trans-Karakoram area ceded by Pakistan under the terms of the 1963 boundary agreement.

Furthermore, the China-Pakistan concert along the border in the Karakoram area of ​​PoK (covering a distance of over 590 km) violates India’s traditional and legal rights in PoK.

According to the Pardafas report, China has gone a step further and developed military infrastructure and roads in the disputed area, which poses a clear and present threat to India.