India on Thursday rejected several “unwarranted references” to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in the joint statement released following the recent visit of the Prime Minister of Pakistan to China.
The statement also mentioned projects under the so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and its extension to third countries.
“We have consistently rejected such statements and all parties concerned are well aware of our clear position on these matters,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in response to media queries on the China-Pakistan joint statement.
He reiterated that the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the Union Territory of Ladakh are and “always will be” integral and inalienable parts of India with no other country having the locus standi to comment on the same.
With regard to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, the spokesperson stated that India has consistently conveyed its protest and concerns to both China and Pakistan.
“CPEC includes projects on the sovereign territory of India under forcible and illegal external occupation. We resolutely reject any attempts to utilize such projects to change the status quo in this area. Any attempts to involve third parties in such activities are inherently illegal, illegitimate and unacceptable and will be treated as such by us,” Bagchi mentioned.
CPEC, the flagship of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), starts from Gwadar in restive Balochistan, then passes through Gilgit-Baltistan, and terminates at Kashgar in China’s Xinjiang region.
As reported by IndiaNarrative.com, India once again made its stand on BRI clear during the 21st Meeting of SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG) hosted by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday where other SCO member States including Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan reaffirmed their support for it.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who represented India at the meeting, said that the connectivity projects should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Member States and respect international law.
