India lodges protest against China’s construction in Shaksgam Valley

India has registered its protest with China against their “illegal attempts to alter facts” in connection with Beijing’s construction activities in the Shaksgam Valley, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

China has invested in the construction of military infrastructure in the Shaksgam Valley, reports suggested.

Responding to a question of infrastructure construction in lower Shaksgam Valley in Kashmir by China, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, in his weekly briefing said, “The Shaksgam Valley is a part of the territory of India. We have never accepted the so-called China Pakistan Boundary Agreement of 1963 through which Pakistan unlawfully attempted to cede the area to China, and have consistently conveyed our rejection of the same. We have registered our protest with the Chinese side against illegal attempts to alter facts on the ground.”

Jaiswal further said that India reserves the right to take necessary measures to safeguard the country’s interests.

The MEA statement comes after recent media reports suggested China’s road breaching the Indian border at Aghil Pass and entered the lower Shaksgam valley of Kashmir, less than 30 miles away from Siachen. Satellite images showed the Chinese road approaching Aghil Pass, with construction resuming this month advancing towards areas north of Siachen Glacier.

The Shaksgam valley in trans-Karakoram tract, part of Pakistan occupied Kashmir, was handed over on a platter by a supine Pakistan to China through an illegal border agreement on March 2, 1963.

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