NEW DELHI, August 23: India has reiterated that the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir was an “integral and inalienable” part of India and cautioned all other concerned parties not to interfere with its internal matters.
In a rejoinder on Sunday to a joint statement by China and Pakistan, Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Anurag Srivastava said, “As in the past, we categorically reject the reference to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in the joint press release post the 2nd round of China-Pakistan foreign ministers’ strategic dialogue. India has repeatedly conveyed its concerns to both China and Pakistan on the projects in the so-called China Pakistan Economic Corridor CPEC), which are in the territory of India that has been illegally occupied by Pakistan,”
The joint statement said the Pakistani side briefed the Chinese delegation on matters related to Jammu and Kashmir, including its concerns, position and current urgent issues. “The Chinese side echoed that the Kashmir issue is a matter of disagreement between India and Pakistan, which is an objective fact, and that the dispute should be resolved peacefully and properly through the U.N. Charter, relevant Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreements and China opposes any unilateral actions that complicate things,”
Srivastava in his statement said, “We resolutely oppose actions by other countries that change the status quo in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and call on the parties concerned to cease such actions,”
Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi currently on a two-day visit to China held discussions with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Friday which centred around the progress on the CPEC and other issues after which the joint statement was released.
The CPEC was, signed between the two countries in 2013 to commence work on a $46 billion project and is a major, pilot program of the Belt and Road Initiative which was proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Both countries have already met nine times in connection with CPEC.
(Venkatesh Iyer)
