'There are Chinese projects on territories in J&K that belong to India': MEA objects to illegal occupation
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated that China has been in illegal occupation of Indian territories in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, and objected to Chinese infrastructure projects being carried out on this occupied land.
The statement followed a meeting between India's External Affairs Minister and China's Foreign Minister held on the sidelines of a multilateral summit in Manila.
Chinese officials, for their part, emphasised positive momentum in bilateral ties, describing India and China as "partners, not competitors" and pointing to recent high-level engagement between the two governments as having put relations "on the right track."
The exchange illustrates the continuing gap between India's declared sovereignty position over all of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh (including areas under Chinese and Pakistani control) and the on-ground reality of Chinese-backed construction activity in those areas.
The 1963 Sino-Pakistan Boundary Agreement and the Shaksgam Valley
In March 1963, Pakistan signed a boundary agreement with China under which it ceded roughly 5,180 sq km of the Shaksgam Valley (part of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir at accession, and hence part of India under India's constitutional position) to China. India has never recognised this transfer, holding that Pakistan had no legal title to cede territory it did not own. The agreement itself contained a clause stating the boundary was provisional, pending final resolution of the Kashmir dispute.
Key Details
- Signed 2 March 1963 between China and Pakistan.
- India's consistent position: the cession is illegal because Jammu and Kashmir (including Gilgit-Baltistan and the Shaksgam tract) acceded to India in 1947 under the Instrument of Accession.
- This agreement is why China is treated by India as a direct party to the Kashmir dispute, alongside occupying Aksai Chin unilaterally on the eastern side.
The Chinese "projects" the MEA objects to are understood to include infrastructure and connectivity works in the Shaksgam Valley and adjoining tracts — territory India regards as illegally transferred by Pakistan and, by extension, illegally occupied by China.
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Gilgit-Baltistan
CPEC is a roughly $60-billion network of roads, railways, pipelines and energy projects connecting China's Xinjiang province to Gwadar port in Pakistan's Balochistan province. A significant stretch of CPEC's northern corridor (the Karakoram Highway) runs through Gilgit-Baltistan, part of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Key Details
- India does not recognise CPEC, as it passes through Indian territory under what India calls Pakistan's "forcible and illegal occupation."
- India has formally conveyed this objection to China at multiple bilateral and multilateral forums, including references at BRI-related summits.
- Distinguish PoK (the general term for Pakistan-administered Kashmir, comprising Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan) from Aksai Chin (Chinese-occupied territory on the eastern flank, seized in the 1950s-60s) and the Shaksgam Valley (ceded by Pakistan to China in 1963).
CPEC and associated Chinese construction in Gilgit-Baltistan form the broader backdrop against which India's specific objection to Chinese projects "on territories in J&K" should be read — India treats any third-country economic activity in PoK, Shaksgam or Aksai Chin as a violation of its sovereignty.
India-China Boundary Mechanisms: Special Representatives (SR) Talks and WMCC
Since the boundary between India and China remains undemarcated along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the two countries rely on political and diplomatic mechanisms rather than a settled border to manage the dispute.
Key Details
- The Special Representatives (SR) mechanism was established in 2003, during Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to Beijing, to explore a boundary settlement from the political perspective of overall bilateral relations. India's National Security Adviser and China's Foreign Minister/State Councillor serve as the SRs.
- The Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) was established through an agreement signed in January 2012 (during the 15th round of SR talks) to handle border-management issues at a working, diplomatic level, distinct from the political-level SR talks.
- Note: this bilateral boundary architecture is distinct from the LAC (undemarcated, disputed, India-China), the LoC (Line of Control, the 1972 Shimla Agreement-recognised ceasefire line with Pakistan), and the International Boundary (settled and recognised, e.g., Punjab/Gujarat-Pakistan sectors).
India's territorial objections to China are raised repeatedly at the political level (as in this Manila meeting) even as the SR and WMCC mechanisms continue working, largely unresolved, on the underlying boundary question.
- The 1963 Sino-Pakistan Boundary Agreement transferred approximately 5,180 sq km of the Shaksgam Valley from Pakistan to China.
- India regards China as being in illegal occupation of Indian territory (Aksai Chin and related tracts) since the 1950s-60s.
- The SR mechanism on the India-China boundary question dates to 2003; the WMCC dates to 2012.
- CPEC, valued at roughly $60 billion, runs through Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir — territory India does not recognise as Pakistani or Chinese to develop.