‘Has no legal basis’: India rejects Pakistan-China ‘boundary commission’

India on Wednesday rejected the “so-called” boundary joint commission set up by Pakistan and China, saying that the body has no legal basis to decide on arrangements related to Indian territory under illegal occupation. New Delhi’s reaction came following the first meeting of the Pakistan-China Boundary Joint Commission in Islamabad.

India has been consistently maintaining that Pakistan’s handing over of certain territories such as Shaksgam Valley to China in 1963 was illegal and unacceptable. New Delhi has also opposed the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor as part of it passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). “Our position on this matter is clear and consistent. There is no boundary between Pakistan and China. We reject the so-called Joint Commission, which is without any legal basis,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on the Pakistan-China Boundary Joint Commission.

The entire UTs of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh “have been, are and will always remain integral and inalienable parts of India,” he said. “We have never recognised the so-called ‘China-Pakistan Boundary Agreement’ of 1963 and have consistently maintained that it is illegal and invalid.”

“We resolutely oppose and reject attempts to alter the status of these occupied territories or legitimise illegal occupation, impinging on India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity… any so-called boundary cooperation between China and Pakistan concerning Indian territories would be completely unacceptable and would have no bearing whatsoever on India’s sovereignty over these territories.”

“Instead of engaging in such theatrics, we call on Pakistan to immediately vacate areas under its illegal and forcible occupation,” Jaiswal said.