BEIJING – China on Friday reiterated its stance over “bifurcation” ofIndian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJK) into two union territories andsaid it deplored and firmly opposed to the Indian move.
The Indian government officially announced the establishment of theso-called “Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir” and “Union Territory ofLadakh”, placing part of Chinese territory under Indian administration.
“China deplores and firmly opposes this,” Chinese Foreign Ministry’sSpokesperson Geng Shuang said during his regular briefing held here.
The spokesperson said that India was challenging China’s sovereign rightsand interests by unilaterally revising domestic law and administrativedivision.
“This was illegal, null and void. It will neither change the fact that therelevant region is under China’s actual control nor produce any effect,” headded.
Geng Shuang urged India to respect China’s territorial sovereignty, abideby bilateral agreements and safeguard the peace and tranquillity in theborder region with concrete actions to create conditions for a propersettlement of the border issue with China.
It may be mentioned that the Chinese foreign ministry’s spokespersonreiterated the stance of his government over “bifurcation” a day after theIndian ministry of external affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar claimed thatreorganization of Occupied Jammu and Kashmir was entirely its internalaffairs and it did not expect other countries to comment on such matters.
The Indian government on the night of October 30 announced a decision todivide the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories – oneJammu and Kashmir, and the other Buddhist-dominated high altitude region ofLadakh. Both will be directly ruled by New Delhi.
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Meanwhile, Chinese experts have slammed India’s unilateral move to changethe China-India border status, saying that the move challenges China’ssovereignty and warning that India’s decision risked border frictionsdespite bilateral ties developing on a progressive track.
Lin Minwang, a professor at Fudan University’s Center for South AsianStudies in Shanghai told the Global Times, a daily tabloid newspaper underthe auspices of the Chinese Communist Party’s People’s Daily newspaper,focusing on international issues from a nationalistic perspective, thatsuch a decision showed that India wants to add its military presence andcontrol in the border regions and China’s stance and its actual controlover the Aksai Chin region have never changed.
“Border frictions between the two could increase in the future,” Lin said.“Jammu and Kashmir” is a disputed territory with Pakistan, while “Ladakh”is disputed with China and includes Chinese territories in itsadministrative division.
The eastern end of the so-called “union territory of Ladakh” is made up ofChina’s Aksai Chin plains. China defeated India in a border militaryconflict in 1962 and successfully safeguarded Aksai Chin, which remainsunder Chinese control.
Although the two countries’ leaders met earlier this month and bilateralties are developing, sovereignty disputes would not disappear immediatelyas India holds a tough and stubborn stance, Lin said.
Instability in the region will persist if India increases its activitiesand provokes China’s sovereignty again, Lin warned.
