India Shuns China on Kashmir After Beijing says Change of Its Status was Illegal, Invalid

18:53 GMT 05.08.2020Get short URL

New Delhi (Sputnik): India’s decision to abrogate Article 370, removing the temporary status granted to Jammu and Kashmir, on 5 August 2019 has been contested by China. Beijing opposed “India’s inclusion of the Chinese territory in the western sector of the China-India boundary to its administrative jurisdiction”.

India on Wednesday told China that it “has no locus standi whatsoever on this matter (Jammu and Kashmir) and is advised not to comment on the internal affairs of other nations”. New Delhi’s reaction came following a statement made by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin.

“Kashmir issue is a dispute left over from history between Pakistan and India, which is an objective fact established by the UN Charter, relevant Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreements between Pakistan and India. Second, any unilateral change to the status quo in the Kashmir region is illegal and invalid. Third, the Kashmir region issue should be properly and peacefully resolved through dialogue and consultation between the parties concerned”, Wenbin said in his daily briefing.

New Delhi abrogated Article 370 in order to rescind the special status granted to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir on 5 August, 2019 and divided it into two federally administered territories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

China claims Ladakh as its territory. It administers Aksai Chin in the north-western region of Kashmir, which India claims as its territory.

India and China had a violent standoff on 15 June in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh after soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army intruded into Indian-held territory. The faceoff preceded a Chinese military build-up close to the de facto border between the two, known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC). 20 Indian soldiers and an unconfirmed number of Chinese troops were killed in the standoff.

Both sides held army commander-level talks and diplomatic engagements to defuse the volatile situation. While China has withdrawn from several friction points, it has yet to do so from two points. New Delhi has decided to maintain its troop strength in the region until Beijing completely withdraws from the disputed area.

India and China have unresolved border disputes over Arunachal Pradesh in the northeast and in Ladakh. Both have been engaged in dialogues to resolve the issue, but so far there has been no success.

The India-China border covers the 3,488km Line of Actual Control, which is a land border in most regions, but in Pangong Tso in eastern Ladakh it passes through a lake. India controls the western portion of the 45km long lake, while the rest is under Chinese control. Most of the clashes between the two countries have taken place in the Galwan Valley.