NEW DELHI: India has registered a protest with Beijing for constructing a
road
in the
Shaksgam Valley
, which was ceded to China by Pakistan in 1963, asserting it is a part of Indian territory.
The ministry of external affairs (
MEA
) said India has never accepted the so-called China Pakistan Boundary Agreement of 1963 through which Pakistan unlawfully attempted to cede the area to China, and India has consistently conveyed its rejection of the same.
“We have registered our protest with the Chinese side against illegal attempts to alter facts on the ground. We further reserve the right to take necessary measures to safeguard our interests,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. He was reacting to media queries about reports that China is constructing a road in the area.
India maintains that under the 1963 agreement, Pakistan illegally ceded 5,180 sq km of Indian territory in Shaksgam Valley from areas illegally occupied by Pakistan in Union Territory of Ladakh to China. It has also maintained China continues to be in illegal occupation of approximately 38,000 sq kms of Indian territory in Ladakh for the past six decades.
