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China Reasserts Claim to Shaksgam Valley, Defends Infrastructure Work

Beijing’s response casts the projects as lawful development under a ChinaPakistan boundary accord.

Overview

  • Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the area is Chinese territory and called the infrastructure activity “beyond reproach.”
  • India had objected on Friday, reserving the right to take necessary measures and reaffirming that Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are integral parts of India.
  • Pakistan handed over about 5,180 sq km in the Shaksgam Valley to China under a 1963 agreement that India says is illegal and invalid.
  • Beijing described the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor as an economic initiative for local development and said it does not change China’s position on the Kashmir issue.
  • The diplomatic exchange unfolds against an over three-and-a-half-year border standoff between India and China in eastern Ladakh.