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China Reasserts Claim Over Shaksgam Valley, Dismisses India’s Objections

Beijing cites a 1963 Pakistan border deal to defend infrastructure construction in the disputed tract.

Overview

  • Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the area in question belongs to China and called its construction activities "beyond reproach."
  • India reiterated that the Shaksgam Valley is Indian territory, rejected the 1963 China–Pakistan boundary agreement as illegal, and said it reserves the right to take necessary measures.
  • Pakistan ceded roughly 5,180 square kilometres of the Trans‑Karakoram Tract to China in 1963, a transfer New Delhi has never recognised.
  • China defended the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor as a development initiative and said neither the corridor nor the 1963 pact changes its stated position on Kashmir.
  • Article 6 of the 1963 agreement contemplates reopening border talks after a Kashmir settlement, a clause India cites to question the pact’s final validity as the diplomatic dispute intensifies.