India rejects 'unwarranted references' to J&K in China-Pakistan joint statement

New Delhi: India on Tuesday categorically rejected “unwarranted references” to its Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in a joint statement issued by China and Pakistan.

The joint statement was issued after Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and military chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, in Beijing on Monday.

Xi’s meeting with Sharif and Munir saw both sides reaffirming “the importance of maintaining peace and stability in South Asia and resolving all outstanding disputes through dialogue and diplomacy”, according to the joint statement issued by the governments in Beijing and Islamabad, apparently making an indirect reference to the dispute over J&K between the two South Asian neighbours.

The two sides opposed “any unilateral actions”, apparently referring to the August 5, 2019, move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to strip J&K of its special status and reorganise the erstwhile state into two Union Territories.

Sharif and Munir, according to the joint statement, briefed Xi on “the latest situation in Jammu and Kashmir”. Xi reiterated that the issue of Kashmir was a historical dispute and should be properly resolved peacefully in accordance with the United Nations Charter, relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and relevant bilateral agreements.

“India’s position is consistent and well known to the concerned parties,” Randhir Jaiswal, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said in New Delhi on Tuesday, reacting to the reference to Jammu and Kashmir in the joint statement issued by China and Pakistan.

“The Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have been, are and will always remain integral and inalienable parts of India. No other country has the locus standi to comment on the same,” he added, articulating New Delhi’s position on the issue.

New Delhi maintains that the 1972 Simla Agreement between India and Pakistan and the 1999 Lahore Declaration had left no scope for the United Nations or any other third party to play any role in resolving the “outstanding issues” between the two South Asian neighbours.

The joint statement issued by Beijing and Islamabad also referred to the upgraded version of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

New Delhi opposed the CPEC 1.0 as it violated the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of India. The 3000-km-long connectivity project, a flagship component of the Belt and Road Initiative envisaged by Xi, linked China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region and the port city of Gwadar in southern Pakistan.

It covered India’s territory in J&K under illegal occupation by Pakistan. China pledged to invest $65 billion in infrastructure projects along the CPEC, including the territories of India occupied by Pakistan.

The CPEC 2.0 is likely to allow China to spread its tentacles not only in Pakistan and areas illegally occupied by Pakistan but also over the larger Afghanistan-Pakistan-Iran region, posing a strategic challenge to India.

“As regards the so-called CPEC projects, some of which are in India's sovereign territory, we resolutely oppose and reject any moves by other countries to reinforce or legitimise Pakistan's illegal and forcible occupation of these territories, impinging on India's sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Jaiswal, the MEA spokesperson, said in New Delhi. “This has been clearly conveyed to Pakistani and Chinese authorities several times.”

The China-Pakistan joint statement also referred to the “willingness” of both sides for “trans-boundary water resources cooperation based on the principles of equality and mutual benefit”.

“We have also seen references to the so-called ‘trans-boundary water resources cooperation’ between China and Pakistan,” Jaiswal said on Tuesday.

“As the two countries do not share any boundary, the question of so-called ‘trans-boundary water resources cooperation’ does not arise. India has never recognised the so-called 1963 boundary agreement between Pakistan and China.”

Pakistan illegally ceded 5,180 sq km of areas in the Shaksgam Valley to China in 1963 from India’s territory illegally occupied by it. India, however, rejected the China-Pakistan deal, which gave the two nations a common land border.